MPs from all three main parties have called for action on cheap alcohol sold through supermarkets, (writes Ewan Turney).
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”.
Carmichael added: “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.”
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 that the balance of responsibility was placed unduly on the pubs and not sufficiently on the supermarkets.
