...but beer can STILL be sold for just 38p
looks like we should still be ok for cheapo beer offers
Supermarkets will for the first time be forced to fix a minimum price for the sale of alcohol ? but it will remain ?dangerously cheap?.
Cans of lager must be priced at 38p or more and vodka, whisky and gin must retail for at least ?10.71 per litre, or around ?7.50 for a standard 70cl bottle.
Ministers will today also say that wine must cost a minimum of ?2 per bottle, while cans of cider could cost as little as 18p.
At a loss: Supermarkets will be forced to sell alcohol at a minimum price but they will still be able to sell it significant loss to themselves, a ploy used to entice customers through the door
Critics say the controversial crackdown still allows beers and spirits to be sold at a lower price than bottled water and soft drinks and will have no meaningful impact on the way supermarkets behave.
It stops short of Tory promises to ban so-called loss leaders ? drink sold below cost price to lure customers in through the door ? and will enrage doctors and MPs demanding firmer action to end the scourge of violence and health problems fuelled by cheap alcohol.
The new regime, which will require legislation to be introduced later this year, will ban the sale of alcohol for less than the total value of the VAT and duty owed to the Treasury.
But shops will remain free to sell alcohol at significant losses to themselves, even though a Home Office report due to be published today will say that increasing the cost of alcohol would reduce consumption and therefore the harm to society.
The crackdown is supposed to target irresponsible selling and drinking and is the first attempt to instruct supermarkets, which have been accused of fuelling binge drinking, how to behave.
At present, there is nothing to stop them selling cans of lager or beer for only a few pence.
Whitehall sources say the plan will end ?the worst instances of deep discounting and prevent alcohol being sold both cheaply and harmfully?.
Senior Conservatives have made a string of promises on cheap alcohol.
Before the general election, licensing spokesman Tobias Ellwood said ?loss-leading of alcohol won?t go on in the future?.
David Cameron has said he wants to help end ?the deep discounting on alcohol?.
The drinks industry has been lobbying for a system of ?duty plus VAT?, which has already been adopted by some stores, including Asda.
Tory MP Andrew Griffiths, who sits on the all-parliamentary group on the misuse of drugs and alcohol, has obtained the support of 100 MPs for a ban on the sale of alcohol below cost price.
He said: ?Any attempt to ban below cost selling will face derision if it does not lead to an increase in the cost of alcohol on the supermarket shelves.
?Duty plus VAT will mean supermarkets will still be able to sell cans of strong lager cheaper than Coca-Cola.
?It will do nothing to end the dangerous cheap drinks promotions that supermarkets have been pushing.
?I know the Government has good intentions but the reality is it will not stop supermarkets selling packs of strong lager cheaper than bottles of water.?
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: ?This is a clear measure that can be implemented quickly and will stamp out the worst cases of below-cost selling.
?However, it will not have a significant impact on low-priced alcohol in supermarkets.
?With 70 per cent of alcohol now sold in the off-trade, there is a real need for the Government to do more to support the pub.?
Kate Nicholls, of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said a proposal of just duty plus VAT ?would be a complete dereliction of duty by the Coalition government.?
Three months ago the Prime Minister said he would look ?sympathetically? at a plan by Manchester councils to introduce minimum pricing of 50p per unit of alcohol.
The policy would have a far more dramatic impact than the Home Office scheme, with lager costing more than ?2 a can compared with 38p.
Supporters of the minimum 50p price included chief constable Peter Fahy, who was in charge of Cheshire Police when father-of-three Garry Newlove was kicked to death outside his home in Warrington in 2007 by a gang of drunken thugs.
But officials have persuaded ministers that a ban on loss leaders would be likely to infringe the UK Competition Act, and European competition law, which protects the free movement of goods across the continent.
The Government has separate plans to raise the duty paid on super strength beers and lagers only.
These must be 7.5 per cent alcohol by volume or more. The level of the duty will be announced in the March Budget.
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Supermarkets will be forced to charge a minimum price for alcohol | Mail Online
looks like we should still be ok for cheapo beer offers
Supermarkets will for the first time be forced to fix a minimum price for the sale of alcohol ? but it will remain ?dangerously cheap?.
Cans of lager must be priced at 38p or more and vodka, whisky and gin must retail for at least ?10.71 per litre, or around ?7.50 for a standard 70cl bottle.
Ministers will today also say that wine must cost a minimum of ?2 per bottle, while cans of cider could cost as little as 18p.
At a loss: Supermarkets will be forced to sell alcohol at a minimum price but they will still be able to sell it significant loss to themselves, a ploy used to entice customers through the doorCritics say the controversial crackdown still allows beers and spirits to be sold at a lower price than bottled water and soft drinks and will have no meaningful impact on the way supermarkets behave.
It stops short of Tory promises to ban so-called loss leaders ? drink sold below cost price to lure customers in through the door ? and will enrage doctors and MPs demanding firmer action to end the scourge of violence and health problems fuelled by cheap alcohol.
The new regime, which will require legislation to be introduced later this year, will ban the sale of alcohol for less than the total value of the VAT and duty owed to the Treasury.
But shops will remain free to sell alcohol at significant losses to themselves, even though a Home Office report due to be published today will say that increasing the cost of alcohol would reduce consumption and therefore the harm to society.
The crackdown is supposed to target irresponsible selling and drinking and is the first attempt to instruct supermarkets, which have been accused of fuelling binge drinking, how to behave.
At present, there is nothing to stop them selling cans of lager or beer for only a few pence.
Whitehall sources say the plan will end ?the worst instances of deep discounting and prevent alcohol being sold both cheaply and harmfully?.
Senior Conservatives have made a string of promises on cheap alcohol.
Before the general election, licensing spokesman Tobias Ellwood said ?loss-leading of alcohol won?t go on in the future?.
David Cameron has said he wants to help end ?the deep discounting on alcohol?.
The drinks industry has been lobbying for a system of ?duty plus VAT?, which has already been adopted by some stores, including Asda.
Tory MP Andrew Griffiths, who sits on the all-parliamentary group on the misuse of drugs and alcohol, has obtained the support of 100 MPs for a ban on the sale of alcohol below cost price.
He said: ?Any attempt to ban below cost selling will face derision if it does not lead to an increase in the cost of alcohol on the supermarket shelves.
?Duty plus VAT will mean supermarkets will still be able to sell cans of strong lager cheaper than Coca-Cola.
?It will do nothing to end the dangerous cheap drinks promotions that supermarkets have been pushing.
?I know the Government has good intentions but the reality is it will not stop supermarkets selling packs of strong lager cheaper than bottles of water.?
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: ?This is a clear measure that can be implemented quickly and will stamp out the worst cases of below-cost selling.
?However, it will not have a significant impact on low-priced alcohol in supermarkets.
?With 70 per cent of alcohol now sold in the off-trade, there is a real need for the Government to do more to support the pub.?
Kate Nicholls, of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said a proposal of just duty plus VAT ?would be a complete dereliction of duty by the Coalition government.?
Three months ago the Prime Minister said he would look ?sympathetically? at a plan by Manchester councils to introduce minimum pricing of 50p per unit of alcohol.
The policy would have a far more dramatic impact than the Home Office scheme, with lager costing more than ?2 a can compared with 38p.
Supporters of the minimum 50p price included chief constable Peter Fahy, who was in charge of Cheshire Police when father-of-three Garry Newlove was kicked to death outside his home in Warrington in 2007 by a gang of drunken thugs.
But officials have persuaded ministers that a ban on loss leaders would be likely to infringe the UK Competition Act, and European competition law, which protects the free movement of goods across the continent.
The Government has separate plans to raise the duty paid on super strength beers and lagers only.
These must be 7.5 per cent alcohol by volume or more. The level of the duty will be announced in the March Budget.
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Supermarkets will be forced to charge a minimum price for alcohol | Mail Online
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