Paul Chase: 'Doctors should stick to writing medical prescriptions, not social ones'

This was the belief that local anti-alcohol campaign groups could be the fulcrum of influence locally and nationally.

So it should come as no surprise that Medical Temperance has welcomed recent initiatives from councils in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire to implement minimum pricing for alcohol by way of a local byelaw. Meanwhile Glasgow licensing board, undeterred by its failure to prevent supermarkets from extending their alcohol retailing areas, now seek a 'winding down hour' at the end of a session in pubs and bars, when only soft drinks could be served. One is tempted to wonder what planet these people are on.

The rationale for this latest assault on the trade is protecting and promoting public health. In Scotland this is a licensing objective. Doctors are the secular priests of our age and we assume, quite irrationally, that if doctors are good at writing medical prescriptions they must be good at writing social prescriptions too. But they're not! Their 'big idea' is that reducing the level of alcohol consumption across the whole population will deliver significant health benefits.

The evidence for this is thin at best, but by contrast there is a large and growing body of evidence that suggests that tackling poverty, unemployment, health inequalities and poor education is the best way to reduce alcohol misuse.

The focus of Medical Temperance, and government, on further reform of the licensing system misses the point. The factors that drive alcohol misuse are not primarily located in the distribution system. Put another way: reform, even radical reform, of the system that regulates alcohol sales, doesn't automatically read-across to a radical change to the way in which alcohol is consumed.

A classic example is the effect the Licensing Act 2003 had on our drinking culture. Its supporters claimed this radical reform would deliver the cafe-bar society and a more relaxed, civilised relationship with alcohol; its detractors predicted a binge drinking Armageddon and the end of civilisation as we know it. Neither of them was right. Neither our best hopes nor our worst fears were realised. We must insist that government and people develop a more realistic set of expectations about what regulation can achieve.

I challenge these local councils to carry out a referendum on the minimum price issue. I believe the result would show that they are being influenced by ideologically motivated campaigners who make a lot of noise, relative to their numbers, but have very little public support. This is the only way to defeat the 'Numpty Tendency' present in all parties.

Paul Chase is a director and head of UK compliance at CPL Training​