Portman hits out at Labour public health plan

UK drinks industry watchdog the Portman Group has slammed the Labour Party’s pledge to review alcohol regulation laws should it be voted into power.

Yesterday (15 January) shadow health secretary Andy Burnham outlined Labour’s public health manifesto, where he criticised the government’s voluntary partnerships with the drinks trade to tackle excessive consumption.

In particular, the manifesto criticises the government’s Responsibility Deal, which encourages businesses to take action voluntarily to improve public health, claiming lawmakers may have “become too close to commercial interests to take the bold action on public health that is required”.

Labour have therefore outlined a number of proposals that would see current voluntary measures made statutory.

The party wants to see “improved alcohol labelling” at an EU level, which would include calorie listings and recommended daily guidelines, as well as warnings about drinking when pregnant.

A priority, Labour claimed, will be “targeting the high-strength, low-cost products that are affordable to children, fuel binge drinking and do most harm to health”.

As such, the party said it would “prohibit or discourage” the sale of cider in three-litre plastic bottles and create a “higher duty band” for high-strength ciders. In addition, Labour said it would review alcohol sponsorships in sports, a measure currently under review in Ireland.

Industry “success”

However, Henry Answorth, chief executive of the Portman Group, said the number of children drinking is already falling at an “extraordinary rate” – down 34% in the last decade – while the drinks industry supports strict enforcement on underage sales and ID schemes.

“As a country we’re making excellent progress and the youngest generation is leading the way,” he said. “We must build on this positive change by working in partnership, not by imposing costly red tape.”

He added that the drinks industry has also already taken a billion units of alcohol out of the market and voluntarily labeled 80% of products with important health information – pledges it had made under the Responsibility Deal.

“Labour are proposing to spend taxpayers money and valuable government time legislating for something industry are already doing voluntarily,” said Answorth.

“We must move on from the old politics of one-size-fits-all policies which antagonise voters and responsible businesses and do nothing to redress the imbalance of health harms across the country.

“Labour need to make a big comprehensive offer to work together with business, locally and nationally, to achieve things further and faster than through nanny state intervention.”

The Times reported today that Labour had backtracked on its consideration of banning alcohol brands’ sponsorship of sports due to criticism it was an “anti-business” move.