THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The alcoholic strength of one of Britain’s bestselling drinks is to be cut by up to a quarter as part of a Government “pact” with supermarkets and the drink industry.The deal, to tackle the growing binge-drinking culture, will also see one of the Big Four supermarkets restricting the display of beers and wines for the first time and the number of units of alcohol stamped on millions of pint glasses in pubs.
It will form a key part of a wide-ranging “responsibility deal” between the alcohol and food industries, retailers and the Government.
It is thought that when the deal is announced this week by Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, it will be the biggest voluntary agreement of its kind between the Government and business.
Food firms including McDonald’s, Subway, PepsiCo and Pizza Hut will also reveal a health pledge which will cover a reduction in salt and sugar content, health advice and information and better calorie labelling. >>> Kamal Ahmed, Business Editor | Saturday, March 12, 2011
My comment:
Lansley is an interfering, meddlesome sort of a guy, isn't he? He likes to stick his nose into all manner of things. First it was smoking, now it's drinking. What next? Perhaps they should make it compulsory for us all to convert to Islam. That way they'll have done with all these health problems. At a stroke! Maybe that's what these useless politicians are aiming for.
As for binge-drinking, I agree it is a dreadful problem. But these silly little measures won't do an iota of good in the fight against it, for the problem has its roots elsewhere.
If they are truly serious about tackling binge-drinking, then they need to start encouraging mothers to stay at home to look after their children; they need to start encouraging mothers to raise their children properly. So please pass the necessary laws to make this possible. Further, they need to discourage divorce: make a divorce much harder to obtain. And very importantly, the government needs to pass laws which promote family values, because these binge-drinkers, I'd bet a dollar to a dime, have no-one to sanction their bad behaviour. In an old-fashioned, traditional family, they would. The mother would be overseeing them, as would the father, and the grandparents.
So stop demonising the drink, and get dealing with the real issues – the true causes of the problem. Alcohol isn't the problem; its misuse is. – © Mark
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