Friday 27 January 2012

Brighton and Hove Councillors - Fools and Felons - Alcohol Minimum Pricing.

Pubs in the UK have recently been shutting at unprecedented rate.

The start of the steep decline coincides precisely with the introduction of the smoking ban in pubs, however there are some who say that the two things are not related - but they seem to have no real explanation as to what else at that specific time could have triggered the start of the decline...

Parliament recently passed a motion in support of the British Pub - supporting proposals intended to reverse the decline (or at least slow it).

Even more recently, Brighton and Hove city council were presented with a motion supporting the parliamentary motion - however it had a toxic tail added. As well as supporting the parliamentary motion, it added:-

(2) Urges the government to introduce a minimum price for alcohol sales in England to stop the sale of cheap alcohol in shops and supermarkets and address the disparity between shop and pub prices, thus encouraging consumers to drink in the safe and regulated environment of the local community pub. http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=37680

So they want to 'address disparity' in pricing - but not by bringing pub prices down, but by pushing shop prices up! Who are these guys working for? who do they represent? in whose interests are they really working?

Why do they say they want to end disparity? They say it is to encourage people to drink in the 'safe and regulated' environment of a pub. Well I can't speak for everyone, but I don't think there are many normal people who would feel safer in a pub than at home!

As for 'regulated' is that now considered a good thing in itself? Regulation for the sake of it (at public expense of course) - is it automatically a public good for peoples behaviour to be controlled by the state? Well it seems that Brighton and Hove city council think so - the lessons of the Soviet Union so quickly forgotten...

It seems the lunatics really have taken over the asylum - we can only hope to get control back before damage is terminal...

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