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Although minimum pricing didn’t make the
Queen’s Speech this time around, Alcohol
Concern chief executive Eric Appleby tells
David Gilliver
how it’s helping to frame a
consistent campaigning message
16 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| June 2013
Profile |
Eric Appleby
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘I
t’s not going to go away, that’s the main thing,’ says Alcohol
Concern chief executive Eric Appleby of minimum unit pricing,
following its much-anticipated non-appearance in last month’s
Queen’s Speech (see news story, page 4). ‘I think, ultimately, we will
get something like minimum pricing, but it’s clearly not going to be
in the next six months.’
Alcohol policy is now at a point where there is a general understanding that
action along those lines is necessary, he believes. ‘If you look at the 2012 [alcohol]
strategy, that’s a step up from previous ones in that it does acknowledge the need
for some population measures. All the evidence shows that price and availability
are the key issues when it comes to reducing, not just consumption, but harm,
and certainly those of us whose job it is to campaign on these things are not
going to let them forget that. There’s still all to play for, really.’’
It will be a tough battle, however, as the ‘resources and power’ of the
industry are huge, he acknowledges. While Scotland may be over the first legal
hurdle in terms of implementing a minimum price, the industry has inevitably
warned that it will be the first of many.
So what’s the best way to counter the industry’s influence – is it to just keep
plugging away at the public health message? ‘You try to put the public health
argument as strongly as you can but it’s tough, because it’s a general message
rather than a very specific one,’ he says. ‘I think you just have to continue to
point out that the industry has a vested interest. Whatever else they say, their
legal duty is to make profits for their shareholders, and they do that by selling
more booze. And governments have to be realistic in this and not involve the
industry in policy making.’
He cites the recent statement from the World Health Organization (
DDN
,
April, page 5) as one that government should heed – that the industry can ‘have
a role in perhaps mopping up some of the problems they cause, but that
shouldn’t be about them picking and choosing what they do,’ he says. ‘They
A CLEAR F
need to put money into something like a blind trust to help deal with some of
the consequences, but it should be up to the public health community and
treatment services to decide what works best and what needs to be done.’
*****
A new problem seems to have emerged, meanwhile, in the shape of Nigel
Farage and UKIP. ASH has already cited them as perhaps part of the reason a
government increasingly wary of being seen as ‘anti’ alcohol and tobacco dropped
plans for plain cigarette packaging. Does Appleby think this is a real issue?
‘I think it is,’ he says. ‘Whether it was a factor in that particular decision, I’m
less sure, but I think it is a factor. You’ve always got this iconic image of him
with a pint in his hand, supposed to symbolise your average punter. A lot of
that is to do with this idea of the public wanting politicians who look like real
people instead of people who’ve just come through a political machine, and I
think that is of some significance. It’s certainly going to make governments
more nervous about taking measures on drinking.’
A key problem, he acknowledges, is that although campaigners have been
very clear about how minimum pricing would target ‘a limited number of drinks
that are sold very cheaply, largely in supermarkets’ – with no impact on the pub
trade – getting that message across to a general public who, understandably,
‘aren’t engaged with the detailed niceties of policy,’ is tough. ‘We just have to
keep making the point that it’s a very targeted measure about addressing harm
– it’s not about telling everybody what they should do,’ he says.
When the alcohol strategy was published last year, Alcohol Concern stressed
the need for more funding for treatment and advice services alongside action
on price and marketing. How worried is he that alcohol won’t get the money if
it’s not seen as a priority locally?
‘I think that’s all very much up for grabs,’ he states. ‘Theoretically, moving
public health and alcohol into local authorities so it joins up with things like
licensing and social care ought to be a very good move. Local authorities are, by