Camra calls for minister of pubs

[hopwas]

Fear not.. there is always faithful JDW

[oldboots]

Fear not.. there is always faithful JDW

Maybe Tim could make it work , the minimum retail prices at 50p a unit would be

3.6% = £1.02
3.7% = £1.05
3.8% = £1.08 etc up to

4.5% = £1.28
5% = £1.42

so probably no more 99p a pint unless you want the weakest MILD (or Carling?)

As a comparison for a litre of 13% wine it would be £6.50 and £15 for a 75cl bottle of spirits.

50p a pint wouldn't effect most pubs but what happens when the neo-pros decide it hasn't worked so we need to go to 75p or £1 a unit, then that doesn't work so we end up like Sweden with beer at £6 a pint. Then they start charging for hospital treatment if they suspect you're drunk, insurance becomes more expensive and on and on it goes. The only way is to say enough right now and don't let drink end up the way smoking has.

If anyone wants me I'll be dusting off my old brewing kit.

[oldboots]

I'm struggling with this one as on a certain level it makes sense to me, in that if supermarkets are forced to raise their prices significantly it may make pubs look less expensive (feel free to shoot that down, I am sure I have got it wrong). But I think the quoted reason of alcoholics would drink less is rubbish, have I misunderstood the meaning of 'addict'?

I don't think you've got it wrong but what normally happens with supermarkets is that they protect margin by squeezing their suppliers, in this case the supplier will get the same and the supermarket will pocket the increase, that's why Tescos are in favour of minimum pricing. I don't know how much cross over there is between pub drinkers and home drinkers but relative pricing is only one small part of the equation. Anyway pubs and supermarkets have totally different business models and I think each appeals to different requirements, even if supermarket sales drop slightly I don't think there would be a corresponding increase in pub sales.

By definition an addict or alcoholic will not be influenced by cost, the argument is more about so called binge drinkers, which includes people who drink more units than some figure thought up on the spot by medical advisors being harassed by a Minister bothered by tabloid tripe about binge Britain. The idea may be to discourage top or front loading but people like getting pi55ed so it wont stop drunkeness, price doesn't do it in Sweden so it wont do it here. Price doesn't stop people consuming other drugs either. As a confirmed conspiracy theorist I just think it's part of a greater plan to ban alcohol altogether.

Bah, I need to lie down in a darkened room or start drinking earlier tonight.

[Conrad]

So basically this new policy is driving you to drink.

Thanks for the explanation, I needed it. I may be mistaken but they were discussing alcoholics this morning on R4, as usual though I would place it as part of the conspiracy that they are trying to broaden these terms.

[oldboots]

It was binge drinkers on the BBC TV news, (before I turned the t*at off). Yes it does drive me to drink, I don't get passionate about much, (ask the wife) but Pubs and Beer are different.

[ETA]

... Anyway pubs and supermarkets have totally different business models and I think each appeals to different requirements, even if supermarket sales drop slightly I don't think there would be a corresponding increase in pub sales.
...

Thank goodness for OldBoots's insightful and incisive understanding of this - a voice of reason, I feel, to counterbalance modern myth that it is supermarkets who are putting pubs out of business.

In addition to Sweden, I have been in Norway a fair bit recently and the situation is more marked (average price per pint is about £8.00 in the pubs and £5.00 in supermarkets for equivalent beer), so alcoholics - of whom there are many more per capita than UK - either brew and distil their own or, more likely, buy cheap aquavit (legal) or cheaper vodka from the immigrant communiy (illegal but it happens).


Banning alcohol altogether - look what happened when the USA tried it in the 1930s.

Every argument I've seen just reaffirms my view that properly run pubs promote responsible drinking over the long term.

Harrumph.

[arwkrite]

I am off too Halfords , see if they have a special on antifreeze. It might go with lime juice and I like to keep up my five a day.

ONLY JOKING..DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. ITS DANGEROUS.

[Conrad]

I have to admit I was in favour of the change to the licensing laws to allow pubs to have broader opening times, made a lot of sense to me as my experience had certainly been of queuing drinks up on the table prior to closing time and whilst people would still want to get drunk I hoped it would do away with that hell bent attitude. Not sure if it worked, but it definitely needs other factors to come into play, so the removal of happy hours (which I do see far less now). Would be interested to know what the net effect actually has been though.

Antifreeze? Are we back to talking about the Romulan Ale?

[oldboots]

Antifreeze? Are we back to talking about the Romulan Ale?

Nah, it was Austrian wine IIRC, not all antifreeze is blue.

[arwkrite]

Apart from the blindness, liver damage , severe headaches and uncontrollable shakes that Austrian wine wasn't to bad. Better than meths or WKD .