Could Labour bring in new minimum price of alcohol in England?
Scotland has raised the minimum unit price for alcohol by 30% in an effort to lower deaths and hospital admissions.
As of Monday, the minimum unit price (MUP) rose from 50p to 65p, with health secretary Neil Gray saying the Scottish government is "determined to do all it can to reduce alcohol-related harm".
After Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister in July, he said he was ready to take "bold and controversial" measures to improve the nation's health, with the government already bringing in a ban on junk food ads.
Labour has already attracted criticism over reported plans to ban smoking in pub gardens, while minimum unit pricing for alcohol in England has also been rumoured.
The UK's chief medical adviser, Sir Chris Whitty, along with Department of Health officials, are said to be making the case for the measure, as ministers plan a series of health interventions, the Times reported.
Yahoo News takes a look at the current rules on alcohol pricing across the UK, why people advocate for it, and the potential impact it could have on pubs, clubs and off-licences.
What is situation now?
England does not currently have minimum unit pricing of alcohol, although it does have another control in place.
A ban on selling alcohol below the level of alcohol duty plus VAT has been in place in England and Wales since 2014.
The UK government also introduced changes to the alcohol taxing system in August 2023 – applying different duty rates to drinks based on their ABV – although this is still not measured by the unit.
Wales went one step further in adopting minimum pricing of 50p per unit in 2020, following the example of Scotland who did the same in 2018.
Northern Ireland does not have minimum unit pricing for alcohol, although its government has considered it, launching a consultation on the measure in 2022.
MUP 'more likely to happen'
Whitty and other DHSC officials are reportedly arguing for a number of new alcohol measures, according to Whitehall sources.
One Whitehall source told the Times: “All these ideas are being submitted again and there are proposals for a tax on sugar producers. Minimum unit pricing is also back and is seen as more likely to happen.”
Also calling for MUP is Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of Alcohol Health Alliance UK, who according to the Daily Mail, said he would "encourage government to take action through duty rises and minimum unit price to tackle the bargain-basement cost of alcohol in our supermarkets and off-licenses, which is the main driver of the 30 per cent increase in alcohol-specific deaths since before the COVID pandemic".
The government has not given too much away on the health policies it is planning, but at the Labour conference, health secretary Wes Streeting suggested "preventative" policies would be at the forefront of his strategy to free up capacity for the NHS.
"We will always defend our NHS as a public service, free at the point of use, so whenever you fall ill, you never have to worry about the bill. We can only deliver recovery through reform. Without action on prevention, the NHS will be overwhelmed," he said.
What are the health benefits of MUP?
Data shared by the Scottish government suggests that within 32 months of implementing MUP, deaths "wholly caused by alcohol" in Scotland reduced by 13.4% – or 156 fewer deaths every year.
MUP also reduced deaths and hospital admissions rates due to alcohol from conditions where alcohol is not the sole cause (such as cancers and cardiovascular disease), preventing a further estimated 112 deaths and 488 hospital admissions per year, the figures show.
"A small number of other organisations cited a 4.1% reduction in alcohol-related hospital admissions since MUP was introduced," the government added."
Colin Angus, senior research fellow at the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, University of Sheffield, said the evidence from Scotland is "unequivocal" that the measure has "saved lives".
"This is consistent with wider evidence from other jurisdictions which have introduced MUP, or similar policies, such as Canada and Australia's Northern Territory," he told Yahoo News.
"We know that the heaviest drinkers, who are most at risk of suffering alcohol harms, disproportionately buy the cheapest alcohol, which an MUP eradicates."
"I think there's a perception among politicians that it isn't a popular policy but the evidence suggests that isn't the case," Angus added, pointing to survey data suggesting the Scottish public support the measure.
He says that "if you talk to people about it and explain what it does, then more people are on board", adding that a lot of people mistakenly think it will impact drinks in pubs when it mainly targets cheap alcohol in shops.
Not everyone is in agreement on MUP, however, with the Welsh Conservatives claiming last year that its own research showed more people were dying since the policy was introduced, claiming it "hasn't worked".
Will minimum pricing be brought in?
While a number of ideas are reportedly being thrown around in Whitehall, the government is yet to commit publicly to introducing minimum unit pricing in England.
"I think a lot of people working in public health have projected a lot of hopes and dreams onto the new administration because some of the things the last government did from a public health perspective weren't the best," said Angus.
"It's important to recognise that, more than not having an alcohol strategy, the Conservative government cut and froze alcohol duty rates multiple times, leaving alcohol taxes at some of the lowest levels they have been for 40 years after adjusting for inflation," he said.
"Our research has found that between 2012 and 2019 these cuts and freezes led to an estimated 2,000 additional deaths in England."
Angus added: "We haven't really seen very much in the way of tangible policy announcements in relation to public health from the new government so I don't really know.
"They've talked around it a little bit on preventative measures - minimum unit pricing would be an effective preventative policy. I'm not a gambling man - I wouldn't put money on it either way, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was announced.
A poll for Alcohol Change UK found almost half of respondents (47%) supported minimum unit pricing to prevent alcohol being sold at low prices – more than double those who oppose (23%) and rising to 55% for and 17% against of swing voters.
The charity's chief executive, Dr Richard Piper, said: “Both international and UK evidence has shown the positive impact of minimum unit pricing. What’s more, minimum unit pricing is a very targeted measure which does not increase the price of all alcoholic drinks.
"It only raises the price of the strongest, cheapest drinks – the ones that cause the most harm. That’s why it is so smart. It also has no effect on pub or restaurant prices. It only affects strong, cheap drinks sold by corner shops and supermarkets, so can even support the hospitality industry."
Yahoo News has contacted the Department of Health for comment.
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