Doctors accuse govt of 'dancing to tune' of drinks industry

The Government "weighed carefully in the balance" evidence behind the minimum price of alcohol units before deciding not to pursue the policy, a health minister told Daybreak.

Jane Ellison defended the Government against accusations it was "dancing to the tune of the drinks industry" and said ministers were worried raising the price of alcohol would damage the economy and punish responsible drinkers.

She also directly addressed accusations the Government had 130 meetings with drinks industry chiefs before abandoning the policy:

"The Government is taking a collaborative approach to public health...if you're taking a collaborative approach in which you see industry as part of it, inevitably, you meet industry a lot."

If Government is working properly it "ought" to consult with the relevant industry before going ahead with policy, a drinks industry chief has told Daybreak.

Miles Beale, chief of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association dismissed claims of cronyism between the Government and the drinks industry over abandoned plans for a minimum price of alcohol.

"What the report from the BMJ ignores is that the Government were right. There is no evidence for minimum pricing. They were right not to go ahead."

He dismissed arguments the policy had been a success in Canada after the price of alcohol was raised by 10% and deaths from alcohol dropped by 30%.

"If you look at what happened in Canada overall deaths year-on-year have been rising. So same statistics tell you that it didn't work and it is much more about culture."

• September 2010: SNP government proposes a minimum price of 45p per unit of alcohol in Scotland
• March 2012: Government unveils plans to introduce minimum pricing in a bid to cut excessive alcohol consumption.
• November 2012 - Home Office launches 10-week consultation

• July 2013 - Government shelves plans claiming there was not enough "concrete evidence" it worked. Instead, ministers introduce a ban on selling alcohol below the cost of alcohol duty and VAT.

Officially, minimum pricing remains "under consideration" by the Government.

Read more: Findings from BMJ investigation into alcohol pricing

The BMJ have accused the Government of putting lives at risk after their investigation into the Government's attempts to introduce a minimum price per alcohol unit.

Their investigation found:

• A Government consultation into the policy was not about whether or not a minimum price should be imposed - merely to determine what the price should be.
• Very few of the 130 meetings between the DoH and the drinks industry were publicly documented.

• Six days after the consultation closed there was a meeting between then-pubic health minister Anna Soubry and drinks industry reps concerned about the impending regulation.
• Health secretary Jeremy Hunt met senior executives from Asda to discuss alternative measures to alcohol unit pricing.

Read more: Doctors accuse drinks industry of 'cosying up' to Government

Doctors have accused the Government of "dancing to the tune of the drinks industry" by ditching plans to put a minimum price on alcohol units.

Ministers met the drinks industry dozens of times before ditching plans for minimum alcohol pricing, a BMJ investigation has found.

Read more: Surge in middle aged patients admitted for drink and drunk problems

The investigation found an "extraordinary" 130 meetings between industry members and the Department of Health had taken place since May 2010.

In an open letter, the BMJ accused the drinks industry of successfully waging an "intensive" campaign to kill off minimum pricing, in order to protect profits.

The BMJ claims the Government caved in to protect jobs in the drinks industry and billions of pounds in income for the Treasury, ignoring health concerns.

Read more: 'One in five' children will drink alcohol this Christmas