tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post6652494873198708652..comments2023-10-17T15:56:22.827+01:00Comments on Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: Medical temperance - minimum pricing unveiledChristopher Snowdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-11516195300727267992012-03-25T19:52:54.330+01:002012-03-25T19:52:54.330+01:00I think it's incredibly brave that politicians...I think it's incredibly brave that politicians pass laws they personally detest.<br /><br />Subsidising alcohol is obviously dear to their hearts. It must enhance one's enjoyment of its consumption vastly to know that your boozing is, in large part, paid for by someone else. Why else do MPs require me, on threat of imprisonment, to pay for their wine, beer and spirits consumed in Westminster?<br /><br />Regardless, they pursue minimum pricing to make alcohol more expensive for everyone, including themselves.<br /><br />Oh, wait...JMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-42991535490074509672012-03-24T02:22:10.364+00:002012-03-24T02:22:10.364+00:00It's easier, I suppose, than a government doin...It's easier, I suppose, than a government doing its duty and suppressing violent disorder on the streets, drunken or otherwise.deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-69490500007272745522012-03-23T21:44:13.786+00:002012-03-23T21:44:13.786+00:00It's a bit strange that we have to look to the...It's a bit strange that we have to look to the EU to overturn this...Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-37880076175197211642012-03-23T20:54:28.827+00:002012-03-23T20:54:28.827+00:00I am ashamed to say that in the last election I vo...I am ashamed to say that in the last election I voted Conservative, never imagining that if elected (coalition or not)they would continue the behavioral cleansing policies of nu-labour by cow-towing to unproven suggestions from prohibitionist pressure groups in regard to smoking and drinking. This is not what my father fought for in the second world war and I doubt it is what many other fathers and mothers fought for either, One has to ask, why on earth did they bother?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-14896275676495512702012-03-23T11:36:18.446+00:002012-03-23T11:36:18.446+00:00"Funny to think that neither minimum pricing ..."Funny to think that neither minimum pricing nor plain packaging were on the political radar at all five year ago. They were not even on the radar of our esteemed 'public health professionals'. "<br /><br />Oh it was… this has been bubbling nicely for a while…<br /><br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4411129.stmKevinWard76https://www.blogger.com/profile/06321449613326300136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-13820886791888675582012-03-23T11:04:36.322+00:002012-03-23T11:04:36.322+00:00The funniest thing for me in all this is watching ...The funniest thing for me in all this is watching the previous Labor bashers rubbing their eyes as it dawns on them that actually the problem is politicians generically and not "red" ones or "blue" ones.<br /><br />This is all about headlines, soundbites and votes. Tough on drunkenness and tough on the causes of drunkenness, or something like that.<br /><br />I can only assume now there will be a realisation that the Tories are just a variation on the previous Labor party.<br /><br />Having said that, the Labor party - as far as I'm aware - didn't seek to make the police an extension of the party by having politicised election of police commissioners who will no doubt be funded by and nominated by the parties themselves.<br /><br />The Tories as small government? Who's kidding who?<br /><br />(I am unaffiliated... I detest politicians of all colours and cannot differentiate any of them)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-3537356217569154132012-03-23T10:14:49.766+00:002012-03-23T10:14:49.766+00:00The BBC article is helpful in that it exposes the ...The BBC article is helpful in that it exposes the Prime Minister as dishonest:<br /><br />“David Cameron said the government wanted to reverse a drinking culture that last year contributed to one million alcohol-related violent crimes and 1.2 million hospital admissions.”<br /><br />A few weeks ago it was 200,000 admissions according to the PM. The 1.2 million number is a massive deception and Cameron must know that as he has previously quoted the more accurate figure.<br /><br />And stupid: <br /><br />"We're consulting on the actual price, but if it is 40p that could mean 50,000 fewer crimes each year and 900 fewer alcohol related deaths per year by the end of the decade."<br /><br />You have to be seriously intellectually challenged to believe this hypothetical nonsense. Or perhaps he is not as stupid as he appears and this is just another example of his dishonesty. <br /><br />The BBC have let people “have their say” on minimum pricing for the umpteenth time and for the umpteenth time, the people have been very negative for very good and often well expressed reasons. <br /><br />Clearly Cameron and his elitist chums are more interested in representing strident and demonstrably dishonest minorities than the people of the UK. <br /><br />And they wonder why we neither respect them nor engage with them. <br /><br />At least we now understand the non-news on liver deaths from the BBC yesterdayIvan Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18364023294207490403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-31871536691340852602012-03-23T09:49:45.170+00:002012-03-23T09:49:45.170+00:00An attack on liberty and an especially disgusting ...An attack on liberty and an especially disgusting attack on the working class.<br /><br />Time to resurrect the mob and defend liberty, preferablly while tankedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-82520178477331164202012-03-23T08:57:06.195+00:002012-03-23T08:57:06.195+00:00Amazing, in the space of just two days, this '...Amazing, in the space of just two days, this 'for your own good' government has caved in to the demands of the tobacco control lobby with the massive hike in tobacco taxes and now to the demands of the alcohol control lobby to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol. Both are extremely regressive policies and will disproportionally impact on those who can least afford it. One can only await the imposition of taxes/minimum prices on calories and sugar. This isn't the nanny state, it's the supernanny state!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-4407822841663054412012-03-23T01:42:54.830+00:002012-03-23T01:42:54.830+00:00http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/23/coal...http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/23/coalition-minimum-alcohol-price-40p?commentpage=1#start-of-comments<br /><br />Even Guardian readers oppose the waste of space who is our PM. The fact that he has surrendered in the face of a campaign that epitomises the dishonesty of the public health industry tells us all that we need to know about Dave and his “evidence based” policies. The man is dishonest and frankly stupid. This is utterly contemptible but sadly normal in modern politics. None of the political elite are prepared to listen to the people they claim to represent. It is far easier to play gesture politics and hand out knighthoods to dangerous prohibitionists like Ian Gilmore.Ivan Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18364023294207490403noreply@blogger.com