GIDLEY GETS TO GRIPS WITH BOOZY BRITAIN

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 10th Jul 2007

Hampshire MP Sandra Gidley is today introducing a Bill in the House of Commons that would restrict alcohol advertising and clamp down on alcohol related offences.

The Bill calls for Gordon Brown to 'turn warms words into positive action' on alcohol abuse. The Bill by local MP Sandra would ban advertising of alcohol before the television watershed and in cinemas, except during films with a rating of '18'. The new law would also set a date on which all alcoholic drinks would have to be labelled with the number of units they contain, along with a reminder about safe drinking limits.

Alcohol misuse costs the economy over £25 bn a year, this includes the cost to the health service where in the last nine years alone there has been a 178% increase in cases of cirrhosis of the liver, and cases of alcohol poisoning have almost doubled. It also includes the cost of crime and antisocial behaviour, and lost of productivity at work and also the cost to families.

Commenting, Ms Gidley said:

"Alcohol advertising, pricing and education need to be tackled. Far too many minors are subject to aggressive alcohol advertisements, which are proven to be effective. A recent long term study in the USA concluded that for each additional dollar per capita spent on alcohol advertising in a local market young people drank 3% more.

"Meanwhile, supermarkets are free to push alcoholic drinks on young people at knock down prices.

"If Ministers are serious about putting a stop to the binge drinking culture, they will take the need for legislation of this kind seriously

"Alcohol is a source of great enjoyment to many rather than a problem; however we need to change the culture where binge drinking is acceptable - we need a sensible alcohol policy

"In other countries children grow up watching parents drink responsibly and they in turn learn to drink responsibly. Currently we are the "drunk man" of Europe and this needs to change.