Alcohol, more often than not, gets a (some say deservedly) bad press. It seems our passion, our hobby, our beloved lifeblood that is wine cannot go more than a week without bearing the brunt of a negative story about how excessive alcohol consumption is contributing to downfall of society. The truth is wine is very seldom drunk by youths causing a raucous disturbance on the street. Wine is a drink for connoisseurs and part of the rich cultural tradition of Britain and Europe.
Fortunately then, Chancellor Osborne and his cohorts managed to see sense and exclude wine from any duty increases at this year’s emergency budget – and rightly so. Long suffering wine enthusiasts have already had to contend with a one-percent increase in duty earlier in the year under Labor rule and the VAT increase due to come into effect next January will hit our pockets harder still. The Con-Lib coalition it seems has decided to grant us some respite with a freeze on alcohol duty.
Perhaps this represents a shift in attitudes towards responsible drinking under Cameron? Labor were somewhat inconsistent with their polices, attempting to impose a ‘European’ style café culture with the twenty-four hour licensing laws – an initiative intended to curb the “binge drinking epidemic” in the UK.
For the moment it seems the Con-Libs are adopting a mature approach regarding policy in this area, and long may this continue. The previous administration’s erratic approach left a sour taste in the mouth, perhaps comparable to a ghastly, saccharine sweet alco-pop. The coalition on the other hand, so far seems to resemble a fine, vintage cabernet-sauvignon. Let’s hope they too get better with age!
