Minimum Pricing - Revision history

Paul Herring: /* UK Media - Alcohol */

2012-11-27T10:22:08Z

UK Media - Alcohol

Paul Herring at 17:58, 15 October 2012

2012-10-15T17:58:35Z

Paul Herring: /* UK Government - Alcohol */

2012-10-15T17:55:08Z

UK Government - Alcohol

Paul Herring: /* Scottish Government - Alcohol */

2012-10-15T17:49:56Z

Scottish Government - Alcohol

Paul Herring at 18:33, 3 October 2012

2012-10-03T18:33:00Z

Paul Herring: /* Scottish Government - Alcohol */

2012-09-26T18:23:19Z

Scottish Government - Alcohol

Paul Herring at 22:55, 18 September 2012

2012-09-18T22:55:09Z

Paul Herring at 22:51, 18 September 2012

2012-09-18T22:51:14Z

Paul Herring at 09:17, 11 September 2012

2012-09-11T09:17:01Z

Paul Herring at 18:20, 1 August 2012

2012-08-01T18:20:20Z

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 == UK Media - Alcohol ==
 === The [[University of Sheffield]] farce - Sep 2012===
 At the start of September, "academics" at the "School of Health and Related Research" at the [[University of Sheffield]], released "research" commissioned by the BBC programme Panorama, claiming that up to 50,000 lives could be saved over the next decade in England if it were to adopt a minimum price for alcohol.
@@ Line 46: / Line 49: @@
 {{quote|The School of Health and Related Research at the [[University of Sheffield]] has confirmed to Panorama that unfortunately, due to human error, figures they produced specifically for the programme Old, Drunk and Disorderly?  broadcast on 10th September 2012 were incorrect.  '''The figures are in fact 4-5 times lower than those originally given to Panorama'''. The University emphasised the human error was wholly on their part and has apologised unreservedly to the BBC. The programme has been temporarily removed from iPlayer and is being re-edited to reflect the correct figures.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mrmfd Panorama] - The BBC iPlayer [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mrmfd WebCite archive]</ref>}}
 == UK Government - Alcohol ==

@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 Proponents for minimum pricing claim that this is intended to target the 'cheaper' brands, and won't affect the more expensive brands (such as Smirnoff Ice or Stella,) but if the cheaper brands are pushed close to the same price point as the premium brands, the premium brands must put their prices up to preserve the 'air of premiumness' they currently enjoy.
-== [[University of Sheffield]] study debunked - 12 Oct 2012 ==
+=== [[University of Sheffield]] study debunked - 12 Oct 2012 ===
 {{quote|The Sheffield team do acknowledge some quite significant discrepancies between their model and previous work. Faced with the fact that their methodology produces results inconsistent with other findings for price elasticity in heavier drinkers they do provide an analysis that is consistent with the literature…
@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 {{quote|Outlining the Scotch Whisky Association's reasons for taking legal action against the government, Gavin Hewitt, the chief executive, said in a statement in July: "We agree that Scotland must address the harmful use of alcohol, but policy needs to be targeted on the problem. Some 30% of those who drink consume 80% of the alcohol sold. Despite warnings that minimum pricing of alcohol would be illegal, the Scottish government has pressed ahead with its ill-targeted policy and misguided legislation. The Scotch whisky industry is left with no option but to oppose the legislation in Europe and through the Scottish courts."<ref name="guardianafs" />}}
 ==References==

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 Proponents for minimum pricing claim that this is intended to target the 'cheaper' brands, and won't affect the more expensive brands (such as Smirnoff Ice or Stella,) but if the cheaper brands are pushed close to the same price point as the premium brands, the premium brands must put their prices up to preserve the 'air of premiumness' they currently enjoy.
 === The Minimum Price Escalator - Sep 2012 ===
@@ Line 77: / Line 86: @@
 judged to be successful, the level will need to be monitored and adjusted
 over time. A mechanism will need to be put in place in order to do this}}
 == Scottish Government - Alcohol ==

@@ Line 81: / Line 81: @@
 == Scottish Government - Alcohol ==
 The Scottish Government have proposed a 50p minimum price per unit.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18052849 Scottish government seeks minimum alcohol price of 50p per unit] - BBC News</ref>
 === [[Alcohol Focus Scotland]] represents government - 26 Sep 2012 ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:33, 3 October 2012
Line 16:		Line 16:

	The reply goes on to mention something else that is rarely mentioned with respect to attempts to control alcohol consumption purely by pricing - home-brewing and home-distilling (of which the former is - currently - legal in the UK, the latter isn't, not that, like a lot of things, stops people from doing it<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-identify-three-victims-of-explosion-at-illegal-distillery-2314563.html Police identify three victims of explosion at illegal distillery] - The Independant</ref>.)		The reply goes on to mention something else that is rarely mentioned with respect to attempts to control alcohol consumption purely by pricing - home-brewing and home-distilling (of which the former is - currently - legal in the UK, the latter isn't, not that, like a lot of things, stops people from doing it<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-identify-three-victims-of-explosion-at-illegal-distillery-2314563.html Police identify three victims of explosion at illegal distillery] - The Independant</ref>.)
		+
		+	== UK Media - Alcohol ==
		+	=== The [[University of Sheffield]] farce - Sep 2012===
		+	At the start of September, "academics" at the "School of Health and Related Research" at the [[University of Sheffield]], released "research" commissioned by the BBC programme Panorama, claiming that up to 50,000 lives could be saved over the next decade in England if it were to adopt a minimum price for alcohol.
		+
		+	{{quote\|Programme makers asked Sheffield University to model the effects of a 50p per unit minimum price, which would push the price of the cheapest bottle of vodka from about £9 to £13.
		+
		+	Statisticians estimated the effect would be 50,000 fewer alcohol-related deaths in England among over 65s, over the course of 10 years.
		+
		+	The current affairs programme, to be broadcast on BBC One at 7.30pm on Monday [10th Sep 2012], examines problem drinking among Britain’s ever-growing population of older people. <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9526047/Minimum-price-for-alcohol-will-save-50000-pensioners.html - Minimum price for alcohol 'will save 50,000 pensioners'] - The Telegraph [http://www.webcitation.org/6B8xCbLvZ WebCite archive]</ref>}}
		+
		+
		+	{{quote\|The lives of 5,000 older English people who drink too much could be saved each year if the government sets its promised minimum price for alcohol at 50p a unit, new research suggests.
		+
		+	Academics at Sheffield University produced the estimate for next Monday's edition of the BBC's Panorama programme, which highlights the growing problem of over-65s drinking dangerously.
		+
		+	Around 1.4 million people over 65 are believed to be risking their health by drinking excessively. The number of over-65s admitted to hospital in England has risen by 62% in five years and more pensioners than 16- to 24-year-olds are kept in because of alcohol-related injuries and illnesses.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/sep/07/minimum-alcohol-price-older-people Minimum alcohol price 'could save 5,000 older people's lives a year'] - The Guardian [http://www.webcitation.org/6B8ykmjnV WebCite archive]</ref>}}
		+
		+	Needless to say, this 5,000/year-50,000/decade numbers were bunkum.
		+
		+	Even at the time, doubt was cast on these numbers:
		+
		+	{{quote2\|Forgive me if I sound jaded when I discuss these people's crystal balls, but it was only six months ago that a 50p minimum price was predicted to save [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/introducing-minimum-alcohol-price-of-40p-per-unit-would-save-1000-lives-each-year-7654706.html 2,000 lives a year across the entire population]. The government-funded sock puppet website www.minimumpricing.info says that it will save exactly 1,000 lives, again across the entire population. Suddenly saving 5,000 lives only amongst pensioners seems to be upping the ante somewhat, no? (The BBC is running the same story, but incorporates the old trick of multiplying the figure over a decade, hence 'Minimum alcohol price 'would save 50,000 pensioners'.) <ref>[http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/alcohol-concern-on-march-again.html Alcohol Concern on the march again] - Velvet Glove, Iron Fist blog</ref>}}
		+
		+	And on 28 Sep 2012, the BBC printed a correction, and pulled the iPlayer version of the Panorama show:
		+
		+	{{quote\|Correction 28 September 2012: The main figure in this story has been amended from 50,000 to 11,500 after it emerged that there had been an error in the calculations carried out for Panorama by the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19509434 Minimum alcohol price 'would save 11,500 pensioners'] - The BBC</ref>}}
		+
		+
		+	{{quote\|The School of Health and Related Research at the [[University of Sheffield]] has confirmed to Panorama that unfortunately, due to human error, figures they produced specifically for the programme Old, Drunk and Disorderly? broadcast on 10th September 2012 were incorrect. '''The figures are in fact 4-5 times lower than those originally given to Panorama'''. The University emphasised the human error was wholly on their part and has apologised unreservedly to the BBC. The programme has been temporarily removed from iPlayer and is being re-edited to reflect the correct figures.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mrmfd Panorama] - The BBC iPlayer [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mrmfd WebCite archive]</ref>}}
		+

	== UK Government - Alcohol ==		== UK Government - Alcohol ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Minimum Pricing|Minimum pricing]] is the theory that increasing the price of a commodity will reduce its consumption. It also presumes (in the case of alcohol) that there's a problem to be solved (consumption is increasing,) and that [[Minimum Pricing|minimum pricing]] is the answer to that problem (by decreasing consumption.) The real problem here is that [[Alcohol Consumption|alcohol consumption in the UK isn't increasing by anything like that which we are lead to believe - it's actually decreasing]].
-For example, the UK government has proposed to bring in a minimum price of 40 pence per (UK) [[Alcohol Units|unit]] in an effort to make [[binge drinking]] and preloading more expensive and reduce the amount of [[binge drinking]]<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17482035</ref> and preloading.
+For example, the UK government has proposed to bring in a minimum price of 40 pence per (UK) [[Alcohol Units|unit]] in an effort to make [[binge drinking]] and preloading more expensive and reduce the amount of [[binge drinking]]<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17482035 Minimum alcohol price planned for England and Wales] - BBC News</ref> and preloading.
 The theory presumes that the commodity being priced in such a way exhibits [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_elasticity_of_demand elasticity] and that the particular brands affected are the ones being consumed.
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 {{quote|Specifically, we appreciate that the elasticity of demand varies for different consumers, and that increases in the price of licit goods lead to increased consumption of illicit goods. These two factors have received inadequate attention in the debate over minimum pricing.
-All predictions as to how minimum pricing might affect levels of crime, consumption and ill health are necessarily speculative and while the conjectural nature of the evidence is not sufficient reason to discard it, we believe there are sufficient flaws in these projections for them to be treated with great caution.<ref name="reply">http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhealth/132/132vw46.htm</ref>}}
+All predictions as to how minimum pricing might affect levels of crime, consumption and ill health are necessarily speculative and while the conjectural nature of the evidence is not sufficient reason to discard it, we believe there are sufficient flaws in these projections for them to be treated with great caution.<ref name="reply">[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhealth/132/132vw46.htm Health Committee - The Government's Alcohol StrategyWritten evidence from Mr Christopher Snowdon (GAS 49)] - publications.parliament.uk</ref>}}
-The reply goes on to mention something else that is rarely mentioned with respect to attempts to control alcohol consumption purely by pricing - home-brewing and home-distilling (of which the former is - currently - legal in the UK, the latter isn't, not that, like a lot of things, stops people from doing it<ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-identify-three-victims-of-explosion-at-illegal-distillery-2314563.html</ref>.)
+The reply goes on to mention something else that is rarely mentioned with respect to attempts to control alcohol consumption purely by pricing - home-brewing and home-distilling (of which the former is - currently - legal in the UK, the latter isn't, not that, like a lot of things, stops people from doing it<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-identify-three-victims-of-explosion-at-illegal-distillery-2314563.html Police identify three victims of explosion at illegal distillery] - The Independant</ref>.)
 == UK Government - Alcohol ==
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 === The Minimum Price Escalator - Sep 2012 ===
-In response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee report of Session 2012-13, the Govenment's reply is out<ref>[ Government Response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee Report of Session 2012-13: Government’s Alcohol Strategy] - dh.goc.uk</ref>
+In response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee report of Session 2012-13, the Govenment's reply is out<ref>[https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/publications/files/2012/09/Cm-8439-Accessible.pdf Government Response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee Report of Session 2012-13: Government’s Alcohol Strategy] - dh.goc.uk</ref>
 First they start with (pdf page 5)
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 == Scottish Government - Alcohol ==
-The Scottish Government have proposed a 50p minimum price per unit.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18052849</ref>
+The Scottish Government have proposed a 50p minimum price per unit.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18052849 Scottish government seeks minimum alcohol price of 50p per unit] - BBC News</ref>
 ==References==

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:51, 18 September 2012
Line 24:		Line 24:

	Proponents for minimum pricing claim that this is intended to target the 'cheaper' brands, and won't affect the more expensive brands (such as Smirnoff Ice or Stella,) but if the cheaper brands are pushed close to the same price point as the premium brands, the premium brands must put their prices up to preserve the 'air of premiumness' they currently enjoy.		Proponents for minimum pricing claim that this is intended to target the 'cheaper' brands, and won't affect the more expensive brands (such as Smirnoff Ice or Stella,) but if the cheaper brands are pushed close to the same price point as the premium brands, the premium brands must put their prices up to preserve the 'air of premiumness' they currently enjoy.
		+
		+	=== The Minimum Price Escalator - Sep 2012 ===
		+	In response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee report of Session 2012-13, the Govenment's reply is out<ref>[ Government Response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee Report of Session 2012-13: Government’s Alcohol Strategy] - dh.goc.uk</ref>
		+
		+	First they start with (pdf page 5)
		+	{{quote\|The Committee shares concerns about the social impact of binge drinking
		+	but we believe it is also important to ensure that the Government’s
		+	strategy recognises and responds to the evidence of an increasing health
		+	impact of excessive alcohol consumption}}
		+
		+	Which promulgates the false ideas that
		+	#there is a problem with [[binge drinking]] in the UK - there isn't; consumption of alcohol in the UK [[Alcohol Consumption\|has been in decline since 2004/5]],
		+	#the [[something must be done\|solution]] to [[binge drinking]] is to penalise everyone by increasing the price, instead of [[Attwood,_Scott-Samuel,_Stothart,_Munafò_(2012)#Background\|penalising the offenders by arresting them]], and
		+	#anything over 2 pints of lager for a bloke in a 'session' is excessive, when the limits were [[Alcohol_Units#Daily.2FWeekly_limits\|plucked out of thin air]].
		+
		+	Anyway, the government's solution to #2 is (pdf pages 7-8):
		+	{{quote\|Given the Government’s decision to introduce a minimum unit price, the
		+	debate has been about the level at which it should be set – whether it
		+	should be 40, 45 or 50 pence – but the setting of a minimum unit price
		+	will not be a one-off event. Once a minimum price is introduced, if it is
		+	judged to be successful, the level will need to be monitored and adjusted
		+	over time. A mechanism will need to be put in place in order to do this}}
		+

	== Scottish Government - Alcohol ==		== Scottish Government - Alcohol ==