James Wilmore: Will the government ever stand up to the supermarkets?

I'm getting a strong sense of déjà-vu around the government's promise to ban below-cost sales. It seems like the off-trade could be let off the hook, yet again.

Remember what happened with the mandatory code under Labour? The original plans included a pledge to give councils the power to ban "volume-based" promotions in supermarkets and shops.

The reason for doing it? Well, the Home Office consultation document said:

"There has been considerable public and media interest in the way that, in particular, supermarkets promote large quantities of alcohol. The concern is this type of promotion encourages pre-loading whereby people enter the night-time economy already drunk and go on to cause crime and disorder." (May 2009)​

Did it ever happen? Of course it didn't. It was dropped in the final version of the code.

So here we are again. The below-cost ban was meant to be part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, as announced in the Queen's Speech.

But lo and behold it's now been left out of the Bill, which is primarily on-trade focussed, and delayed until May 2012.

So will a ban ever happen? One senior industry source said to me last week the pub trade can "forget about it".

The official line from the Home Office is the government remains "committed to it". And cabinet minister Sir George Young said in the Commons last week it was still the coalition's policy to "ban the sale of alcohol below-cost in supermarkets".

But the Home Office added this to its statement:

"The Home Office will work closely with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and representatives of the alcohol industry to introduce this measure without unduly impacting on industry or responsible drinkers."​

Not "unduly impacting on industry"? Seems like a strange thing to say.

Bringing in a ban would mean supermarkets having to charge more for booze. Hardly "impacting" on business.

Other concerns are the government will duck out of a national ban, as it proving fiendishly difficult to work out how it would operate without falling foul of EU law. Speculation suggest councils could be give the power to bring in a ban on a local level. Sounds like a recipe for chaos to me.

It may seem that all this whingeing about the off-trade is sour grapes (or grain) from the pub trade.

But as the gloves are off for the major chains in a Christmas booze price war, publicans have every right to complain.And lest we forget, pubs are banned from offering "irresponsible" promotions.

David Cameron has promised his government will be "pub-friendly". This is one area where action, rather than PR bluster, will really count.