Drinking to Get More Expensive

Special offers on drink, especially for women are on the way out

New laws to be unveiled by the government will make it harder to buy cheap alcohol, and will give the police more power to deal with underage drinking, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

Speaking to Bury the Lead, Constable David James of the Metropolitan Police said he personally supported the proposed regulations.

“This country has a culture of ‘get drunk as quickly as possible,’ and that’s dangerous,” he said.

The changes in legislation could bring a ban on happy hours, ‘drink as much as you can’ offers, and promotions offering free drinks for women.

Students who avail of these offers are worried about the further drain on their expenses.

Valeria Marchetti, 29, is one of the students in London who would now think twice before going for a drink.

“Sometimes students just need the entertainment after a long day at university,” she says. “If drinks become more expensive, then maybe I’ll buy some wine and drink with my friends at home.”

“Little difference”

For others however, regulations would make “little difference”.

“If I’m planning to go out, I’d go anyway. Sometimes, the difference between happy hour prices and normal prices is only 30p or 50p so it doesn’t matter,” says journalism student Javier Duque.

Warren Shread, 22, agrees. “A minimum price on drinks would not affect me. I’d still go out to drink,” he says.

The government decisions will not greatly affect university bars either. Many of them already have regulations in place that encourage responsible drinking.

Jim Chapman, manager of Undercroft, the University of Westminster student union bar says, “We already have a responsible drinking policy in place.”

“We could have dropped our prices to compete with local bars offering special promotions for students, but we chose not to, because we support responsible drinking.”

“Irresponsible” prices

The new regulations are to be detailed in the Queen’s Speech and will put a curb on what the Home Office calls “irresponsible” prices on alcohol.

The move is part of the Government’s attempts to tackle the issue of drunkenness, especially in youngsters.

According to the Daily Telegraph however, the ministers are unwilling to introduce a minimum price for alcohol. They are afraid such a decision would alienate voters in these times of recession.

Supermarkets have been criticised for offering alcohol at lower than cost price, at a loss, to attract customers. However, prices of alcohol at supermarkets and off licenses are not expected to be included in the regulations.