Binge-drinking Britain
Will setting a minimum price per unit help change Britain’s drinking habits?
New research has questioned whether the government’s plan to set a minimum price per unit on alcohol will actually help curb binge drinking.
The article by Tom Henri seeks to evaluate the implications of the legislation, particularly from the perspectives of class and national identity. It also takes into consideration how the government has failed to fully consider the lessons of history when considering new drinking laws. Coupling this with the £850 million the alcohol industry stands to make make per year from the bill, and an increase in the illegal smuggling of booze, shows how the situation is a potential powder keg for the government.
According to Henri, ‘by looking at the historical context of the eighteenth century, we see that some of the themes that underscore our contemporary concerns regarding ‘booze Britain’ and Blair's new British disease of binge drinking have some echoes down the ages’. Historically there have been attempts at regulation, notably of the defiant Scots in the early 18th century who, in the face of the Act of Union, continued to drink French wine as a stand against English imperialism and to reinforce their own national identity. 18thCentury London saw a ‘gin craze’, when gin was easily available to the poor after the government promoted its production as a new outlet for grain producers. The Irish immigrants of the 19thcentury spent their wages on alcohol in order to seek solace from their exploitation and feelings of displacement in our nation. He states that ‘the argument that the state's dealings with alcohol have had a long association with understanding the nation and nationality is compelling, however the potential to use this policy as a precursor to strengthening or reinforcing national borders is somewhat worrying as it suggests a degree of premeditated deceit.’
By regulation, the Government aims to improve the nation’s health, reduce crime and restore law and order. Henri, drawing on historical examples, argues that ’The potential winners from this policy are primarily the alcoholic beverage industry and secondly those involved in the illegal importation of alcohol’. He argues that the Coalition are using alcohol fuelled Britain as an excuse to increase border controls, therefore tackling immigration, pressure on housing and employment opportunities all under the guise of alcohol regulation. With the publication of Government Strategy on Alcohol, including the ‘responsibility deal’ to shed a billion units nationwide and giving a pledge on public health. This article provides an interesting slant on ‘booze Britain’.
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The borders of booze Britain: alcohol controls and nationality
Tom Henri
Contemporary Social Science, Volume 8, Number 1, 2013
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