London Update… Doctor’s Orders

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown isn’t exactly flavour of the month around here. Before he moved his chair behind the big desk at 10 Downing Street, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and pretty much everyone is blaming his policies, past and present, for the God-awful state of our economy.

A side effect of the economic malaise is the closure of over 30 pubs (hotels to you Aussies) every week, simply because they are not getting enough punters through the door to make a profit. The hospitality industry is lobbying hard for tax breaks and other measures that might bring some relief to the struggling trade, but so far Mr Brown has not listened, and the economy is still being denied revenue it needs from a buoyant pub sector.

It is no surprise that government wont listen to drinks industry lobbying…they never do. However, when the doctors wade in, people usually sit up and listen; the smoking ban attests to that fact. This week, Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for the entire UK, suggested that a minimum price of 50 pence per unit of alcohol be applied to each and every retailer in the UK. His recommendation was summarily dismissed by both Prime Minister Brown and opposition leader David Cameron.

“Quite right” you might say, “Stop putting even more restrictions on our industry.” But if you are saying that, you are wrong, and so is Gordon Brown. Think about it for a moment. When was the last time you went into a bar or pub and bought anything to drink that was less that 50 pence (about $1)? Never. It doesn’t happen. And yet I can walk into any supermarket and buy unbranded super-strength cans of lager and cider for far less that 50 pence a pop. This isn’t a tax don’t forget, so it won’t affect the cost of buying in stock, purely what it can be sold at.

In one fell swoop, this initiative could help get people back into pubs (if the price is the same, there’s no reason to sit at home and drink), and more importantly, the there will be less idiot kids hanging around on street corners, pissed on own-brand Special Brew and causing trouble. Crime figures are bound to drop. The only losers would be the huge supermarket chains who would have to stop selling crap, rough alcohol at a loss. I think Walmart can hack it.

Interesting, isn’t it? When the docs shout: “Stop smoking”, the Government jumps, no matter the cost to the licensed trade. However, when they shout: “Stop supermarkets selling cheap booze to kids and alcoholics”, which would help the trade and in turn the economy, their reply is “Nope…I’ve got shares in Safeway.”

Cheers Gordon. Good luck in the next election. You’ll need it.