‘Generation has paid price’ of cheap alcohol

A whole generation has been affected by Labour’s failure to properly regulate the drinks industry, according to Alcohol Concern’s chief executive Don Shenker.

He said thousands of young people had been affected by the government’s “lack of focus” on alcohol-related harm and that this had been resolved “only recently”.

“We’ve had a whole cohort of young adults and children affected by binge drinking and turning up to hospital in rising numbers with alcohol-related illnesses,” he told politics.co.uk.

The NHS currently spends £2.7 billion on treating alcohol-related harm and the criminal justice system spends £7.9 billion on alcohol-related crime and disorder, according to Alcohol Concern.

While admitting the introduction of minimum pricing remains unlikely in Britain in the future, Mr Shenker stands by his claim that allowing the binge-drinking trend to continue will not help Britain’s recessionary economy.

“I think the argument still stands it’s cheaper for the country to sell alcohol responsibly than irresponsibly,” he finished.