UK Health Secretary Seeks Tax Hikes to Curb Teenage Drinking

Labour's Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has expressed her view that taxes on alcoholic drinks should be "really increased" to combat excessive binge drinking by young people.

In an interview with First News, a young persons Newspaper in the UK, she claimed tax increases would stop teenagers spending money on drink and ending up in a Hospital's casualty department.

Personally I have to question this simplistic view.

By what amount would the price of a pint of beer have to increase to deter a young person from drinking it? Given young, unmarried people can probably spend a much greater percentage of their income on drinking than most other age groups, wouldn't this be punishing more mature adults to pay for the inexperience and stupidity of young people?

Some commentators have suggested the additional tax could be targeted specifically at the, so called, alcopops favored by many younger drinkers. If this were done it simply means switching drinks to avoid the tax hike.

With the effects of the smoking ban expected to hit Britain's licensed trade next year, additional inflation busting tax hikes on alcohol could be a double whammy that a large number of pubs and clubs couldn't withstand. The implications to jobs and communities are potentially huge.

Now I do not deny that young people's behavior has become a subject of concern in Britain today. From personal experience I know the social impact to many communities of less discipline being exercised at home, in schools and by the police coupled with the effects of alcohol and drugs misuse has created some serious problems that need to be addressed.

But when I see police cars simply pass by gangs of under age juveniles openly drinking in the street, adults being only too willing to purchase cheap drink from supermarkets to pass on to under age drinkers and an apparent unwillingness of authorities to prosecute offenders or apply meaningful sentences is additional taxation really a sensible policy? This is a Government that appears to me to only care now whenever it can be done at someone else's expense.

I have two simple suggestions to offer Ms Hewitt and our increasingly out of touch Ministers.

1) Increase the minimum drinking age to 21 and expect the police to enforce the Law whenever they see kids drinking on the streets.

2) While not supporting a return to National Service, allow the Courts to impose two year conscription in to the armed services for young people repeatedly convicted of anti-social behavior crimes.

No additional taxes for retired folk to bear when enjoying their hard earned lunchtime tipple. Help with the recruitment issues faced by our armed services, less pressure on an overcrowded prison service, an increase in community discipline and fewer immature 18 year olds able to buy alcohol for their 16 and 17 year old mates around the corner. Seem reasonable?

But don't expect these ideas to be taken too seriously by Ministers as they don't make the public pay more to central Government do they?

Graham is the founder of the Net Store Search Directory.