£5-a-pint call to reduce alcohol harm

A return to the days when a Double Diamond worked wonders and Guinness was good for you is being touted as the cure for the nation's alcohol-related ills.

Neither vintage beer advertising slogan would pass today's strict rules which ban linking alcohol with better health or enhanced performance.

And a casual glance at any national newspaper would clearly lead anyone to believe that our town centres are besieged by binge drinking hooligans, endangering their own health as well as the well-being of society as whole.

Number crunchers from the Academy of Medical Sciences have decided that the reason for this is that the cost of drinking has dropped, in real terms, since 1970. The researchers are calling on the government to increase duty on beer, wine and spirits so that they account for the same proportion of our disposable income as they did 30 years ago.

In 1970, the average weekly wage was around £32, compared to around £475 today. To restore the booze-to-income ratio of the days when a pint cost 20p, the price would have to be raised to at least £5.

Alcohol consumption has increased by 50 per cent since 1970. The researchers say that even a 10 per cent increase in the price of drink could cut alcohol-related deaths by up to a third.

One of the reports authors, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, of University College London said: "The pleasure alcohol brings has to be balanced against the harms.

"A strategic programme is needed now to curb the nation's escalating level of drinking in the interests of both individual and public health. The country has reached a point where it is necessary and urgent to call time on runaway alcohol consumption."

The report also calls for a reduction in the drinks allowances for travellers from the EU and a lower drink driving limit.