As in Scotland, minimum pricing in Wales had a sunset clause so it could be repealed if it didn't work. As in Scotland, it didn't work but the minimum price has not only been kept, it has been increased.
I can only assume that the journalists who wrote this for the BBC had a wry smile on their face when they filed it...
Independent research commissioned by the Welsh government suggests the policy could prevent more than 900 alcohol-related deaths over 20 years and reduce the number of "harmful drinkers" by nearly 5,000.
The policy was introduced in Wales in 2020 and the price increase follows a public consultation.
Public Health Wales figures show between 2019 and 2023 there was a rise of more than 50% in alcohol-related deaths.
Great success!
The "independent research" comes from - you guessed it! - the guys at Sheffield University who always get these lucrative commissions. I recently wrote about them here.
And I wrote about the failure of minimum pricing in Wales, which has seen the biggest increase in alcohol-specific deaths of any part of the UK since 2020, here.
