MPs: stop sale of cheap supermarket booze

MPs from all three main parties have called for action on cheap alcohol sold through supermarkets.

Several MPs stressed that there must be greater regulation of supermarkets and how they sell alcohol during a debate on proposed changes to the Licensing Act as part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.

The Government's promised below cost ban on off-trade sales was excluded from the Bill when it was unveiled two weeks ago. "We do have cheap booze; it is bought in bulk; it is consumed in a bingey way, which does cause huge problems; and we have to address the issue," said Conservative Stroud MP Neil Carmichael.

He called for an ombudsman to be set up to look into the way supermarkets retail alcohol.

He said the Government must "recognise the pub as a useful, controlled environment in which people can drink". He said: "When one considers the number of regulations and bureaucratic requirements that a pub has to fulfil, we wonder why people want to be landlords.

"They do so because they enjoy the job and do a great thing for communities, but they are often discouraged from getting on with the job because of all the work that they have to do."

Minimum pricing​

Labour MP Keith Vaz raised the issue of minimum pricing. "One can get 36 cans of lager for £18, or about 50p a can. I do not drink alcohol, but one of my researchers looked into this over the weekend.

"There is no doubt that it is cheaper to buy alcohol in supermarkets. As we heard earlier, people get tanked up before they go out because of the very cheap cost of alcohol there."

Conservative Andrew Griffiths said supermarkets were sending out an "extremely damaging message to young people" by selling cans of lager cheaper than Coca-Cola. "That is why so many young people are pre-loading. Before they go out for an evening, they drink far too much, and we see the effects on our high streets, in our police cells and in our emergency units."

Lib Dem Stephen Lloyd called for an end to the sale of cheap drinks such as that people use to get "absolutely blitzed" on.

Bedford Conservative MP Richard Fuller added: "The balance of responsibility is placed unduly on the pubs and not sufficiently on the supermarkets? Regulation focuses on the pubs and there is insufficient regulation of the supermarkets."

Disaster​

Home secretary Theresa May said there would "shortly" be news on the below cost ban. "Sadly, Labour's Licensing Act 2003 has proved to be the disaster that many predicted," she said.

"The police continue to fight a battle against alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder, and the taxpayer continues to pick up the bill of more than £8 billion per year. Last year, there were more than 1 million alcohol-related hospital admissions. That cannot go on."

However, there was also barbed criticism of pubs and clubs by some MPs. Blackpool Conservative Paul Maynard said elderly residents were afraid to go out in the evening. "I understand that when Labour Members brought in their reforms to licensing they wanted to create a continental style café culture," he said.

"From their Tuscan palazzos, they had observed the intergenerational passeggiata and it had warmed their hearts. I think it is fair to say that the passeggiata and the café culture that they so admire on their summer holidays has yet to make it to Blackpool town centre on a Friday or Saturday evening."

Undesirable​

Gosport Tory Caroline Dinenage added: "In a previous life, I sat on the licensing committee of the local council, and local residents would often cite their frustrations with the antisocial behaviour of people leaving bars and clubs late at night.

"At present, the responsibility of the landlord ends outside the bar or club, and short of ushering customers away from their premises with a plea to leave quietly, they are essentially free to make their money while others are left to clear up the undesirable after-effects."