Hewitt asks for alcohol tax rise
The government targets underage and binge drinkers in adverts
Tax on alcohol should rise to reduce binge drinking among teenagers, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said.
Ms Hewitt urged chancellor Gordon Brown to "really increase" taxes on alcohol, especially on drinks such as alcopops, most popular with young people.
She told children's paper First News it would stop teenagers spending money on drink, and ending up in casualty.
But the drinks industry said taxation was not the solution and the government should address why young people drink.
The Treasury said Mr Brown "routinely considers a wide range" of suggestions on tax ahead of the Budget.
Ms Hewitt said: "We've got a real problem with binge drinking among young people.
"We've got enormous numbers of young people, particularly on a Friday and Saturday night, ending up in the casualty department of hospitals because they're drunk.
"They've fallen over and bashed their heads in because they're drinking too much."
High taxation is a relatively blunt instrument to deal with this complex problem
David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group
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But David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, an association set up by the drinks industry to promote responsible drinking, said although raising taxes seemed positive, it was not going to solve the problem.
He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think it is a superficially attractive solution but it is not necessarily the right solution.
"Sure, if we increase taxes we are likely to reduce the population's overall consumption of alcohol, but that is not really the problem.
"The problem is more to do with how much certain individuals drink and the pattern of their drinking.
"High taxation is a relatively blunt instrument to deal with this complex problem."
Drink dangers
Younger people are likely to drink heavily - 48% of men and 39% of women aged 16 to 24 drink above daily recommendations, official figures show.
Alcohol alters judgement and perception and can lead people to take risks with their health and safety that they would not normally consider.
Professor Martin McKee, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Today programme that there was a clear problem with alcohol in the UK and welcomed the moves.
"One of the most important strategies is to limit the ease with which you can purchase alcohol and that has been done in a number of Scandinavian countries where there have been restrictions on the number of outlets and the number of hours that they are opened.
"Another way is to increase the cost of alcohol by increasing taxes, so we can anticipate that this will have a beneficial effect on health."
Research shows 80% of pedestrian deaths on Friday and Saturday nights are alcohol related, as are nearly three quarters of peak time accident and emergency admissions.
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So everybody has to pay more because a load of kids are getting pi55ed. Surely if the kids parents did their job and the kids were not served in the pubs/offey then this situation would not occur. Why not simply give the parents the hospital bill for their little darlings and get those responsible for the extra cost to the NHS, to pay for it. Or would that not be very 'fair' in the New Labour feced up world.
The government targets underage and binge drinkers in adverts
Tax on alcohol should rise to reduce binge drinking among teenagers, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said.
Ms Hewitt urged chancellor Gordon Brown to "really increase" taxes on alcohol, especially on drinks such as alcopops, most popular with young people.
She told children's paper First News it would stop teenagers spending money on drink, and ending up in casualty.
But the drinks industry said taxation was not the solution and the government should address why young people drink.
The Treasury said Mr Brown "routinely considers a wide range" of suggestions on tax ahead of the Budget.
Ms Hewitt said: "We've got a real problem with binge drinking among young people.
"We've got enormous numbers of young people, particularly on a Friday and Saturday night, ending up in the casualty department of hospitals because they're drunk.
"They've fallen over and bashed their heads in because they're drinking too much."
High taxation is a relatively blunt instrument to deal with this complex problem
David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group
Send us your comments
But David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, an association set up by the drinks industry to promote responsible drinking, said although raising taxes seemed positive, it was not going to solve the problem.
He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think it is a superficially attractive solution but it is not necessarily the right solution.
"Sure, if we increase taxes we are likely to reduce the population's overall consumption of alcohol, but that is not really the problem.
"The problem is more to do with how much certain individuals drink and the pattern of their drinking.
"High taxation is a relatively blunt instrument to deal with this complex problem."
Drink dangers
Younger people are likely to drink heavily - 48% of men and 39% of women aged 16 to 24 drink above daily recommendations, official figures show.
Alcohol alters judgement and perception and can lead people to take risks with their health and safety that they would not normally consider.
Professor Martin McKee, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Today programme that there was a clear problem with alcohol in the UK and welcomed the moves.
"One of the most important strategies is to limit the ease with which you can purchase alcohol and that has been done in a number of Scandinavian countries where there have been restrictions on the number of outlets and the number of hours that they are opened.
"Another way is to increase the cost of alcohol by increasing taxes, so we can anticipate that this will have a beneficial effect on health."
Research shows 80% of pedestrian deaths on Friday and Saturday nights are alcohol related, as are nearly three quarters of peak time accident and emergency admissions.
__________________________________________________ ____________
So everybody has to pay more because a load of kids are getting pi55ed. Surely if the kids parents did their job and the kids were not served in the pubs/offey then this situation would not occur. Why not simply give the parents the hospital bill for their little darlings and get those responsible for the extra cost to the NHS, to pay for it. Or would that not be very 'fair' in the New Labour feced up world.
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