The prime minister has given his support to moves to ban cheap booze in Greater Manchester.
David Cameron said he was ‘very supportive’ of plans being explored by the region’s 10 council chiefs to create a by-law that would make it illegal for pubs and shops to sell alcohol for less than 50p per unit within their boundaries.
Mr Cameron told the M.E.N: “I think the idea of the councils coming together on this is a good one and we will certainly look at it very sympathetically.”
The prime minister said his government – which would have to approve any by-law – would have to 'look at the details'.
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He added: “Where there can be local decisions we are very happy for that to happen.
“It may be that we need to do something to help deliver the localist answer.”
Mr Cameron admitted any by-law – which would see alcohol priced higher in Greater Manchester than in neighbouring areas – could fall foul of competition laws.
And, while he said he did not agree with a national tax to bring alcohol prices up to a minimum level, he said: “I think if what you’re trying to do is stop supermarkets from selling 20 tins of Stella for a fiver that’s what we’ve got to go after.
“Where I want to try and help is ending the deep discounting on alcohol.
“People going and 'pre-loading', having bought from a supermarket where they were attracted by a price designed to bring them into the store.”
Mr Cameron was speaking to the M.E.N. during a tour of the region.
He confirmed that his government was considering paying credit-reference firms to help track down benefit cheats.
The prime minister said the move could be part of an 'uncompromising' crackdown on benefit cheats, to be revealed in autumn.
He said reducing the £5.2bn annual cost of fraud and error would be the 'first and deepest' cut in public spending that the coalition would make.
Mr Cameron had earlier visited St Peter's Partnership in Ashton-under-Lyne – a community-focused charity that helps people find training and jobs.
He also hosted an hour-long question-and-answer session with members of the public in Manchester Central.
The prime minister said he was aware of concerns that Greater Manchester could be hit hard by public spending cuts.
But he added: “The chancellor [George Osborne] is a north west MP. Yes, we have to make cuts but one of the first things he announced was that we were going ahead with the Metrolink expansion. The north west is vital to the British economy.”
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Is there no end to this odious mans attacks on the poor? Does he not understand that only about 10% of cheap alcohol is purchased by anti social idiots.
Approx 80% of wine sold is priced at £5 or less, this idea would make every bottle cost a minimum of £5, then it really will be a lucky dip as to what you get! Even cooking wine will cost £5 a bottle even though it now sells at about £3.
So in the Tory vision of Britain in the future nearly all 50+ year olds will be out of work and unable to find it, they will be pressured into unsuitable low paid work, their homes will be removed from them so some one more deserving can be housed, and just when they think they'll have a nice drink, they'll find they can't afford it.
Nearly a hundred years ago Marx wrote that drink was the curse of the working classes, because a few drinks in them and they were happy, he was probably right about this, and Cameron will remove this one small indulgence at his peril.
Never mind though, champagne and expensive wines will remain unaffected, just the drinks the poor have to choose.
Dave the Rave backs the ban on cheep booze because him and his Toff pals wont be affected by further price increases in alcohol at the cheaper end of the market.
I see we are being "softened" up to accept a minimum price for alcohol in the region.
When will someone in authority realise and tell us that the minimum price idea is illegal under EU law and stop the waste of time and money exploring it !
Cast-iron Dave is, of course, a great expert on Greater Manchester and has visited the area at least twice in the last twenty years to my knowledge. The problem of too much drinking has a simple solution: if people are drunk in public, they should be arrested and charged under existing laws. This does not happen in the Soviet Republic of Bolton. If I dare to go into the town centre at night (or into the centre of Horwich, say) then there are clearly people who are offensive because of having drunk too much but nothing is done about them. What are the police doing? Of course, it is more fun for the police to be marching in a gay pride march and enforcing the rights of gypsies but why does not the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester simply announce a policy of no tolerance of drunks? Lock 'em up in the cells for the night and fine 'em in the morning; that's what use to happen to the tiny number of drunks in Bolton and that's why the numbers were so tiny.
Spot on.
I sometimes stay at a mates in the city centre and despite the best efforts of the overnight street cleaners the streets are riddled with vomit on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Manchester has promoted itself as a boozed up party town so I suppose on that front it has been a success. A colleague from work had his stag weekend in town, 22 bokes and they had 40 pints EACH over two days and one night. In the pubs at 11am and it was an utter mess by all accounts but this is what the city wants so I suppose it keeps alehouses in business.
No cheap booze for camerons clowns - the wine in their cellar is worth more than eight hundred thousand pounds - lets drink to misery misery and more misery thanks to spineless liberal democrat mps like john leech in withington
Mr Cameron said: while he said he did not agree with a national tax to bring alcohol prices up to a minimum level, he said: “I think if what you’re trying to do is stop supermarkets from selling 20 tins of Stella for a fiver that’s what we’ve got to go after.
I don’t know why but this made me smile, tins of stella, hes so down with the kids isn’t he
good move, im sick of alcoholics being a strain on the NHS, and sick of drunks being a strain on public services, sick of seeing busstops broken, and it all comes down to the british lack of self control with booze! shameful really that it has to come to this!
And in the MEN today you get your free pint !!!
That's right Moston Blue. Toffs like Blair (went to UK's third top public school) with his £24 million won't be affected, nor will other public schoolboys like Ed Balls or nor working class St Heln's Labour MP Shaun Woodward with his £40m fortune.
Stop supermarkets and corner shops selling booze and restrict drinking to either the home or in pubs - nowhere else
i in 3 families in Manchester have no income as the parents don't work.
Why oh why did I vote Labour for the last 13 years when they have done this to us?
"want to leave, Stretford
Stop supermarkets and corner shops selling booze and restrict drinking to either the home or in pubs - nowhere else"
how can you drink at home if you cant buy it in a shop? and dont say brew it yourself.
i drink at home anyway and dont see why i should have to pay more. I'd may as well start smoking the evil weed. probably cheaper!
most of the scum i see and read about causing drunken trouble usually arent in a job. so how do they afford to buy alcohol?
hang on! they'll probably be on benefits then!!
i say scrap them. it'll sort out a massive amount of the problem straight away! if they haent got money then they cannot afford to live.
the create community projects where people can work to get the essentials to live and feed themselves. therefore actually doing something for food and rent.
at least we'll be getting something back in return and maybe this country might become a better place to live in too. it might even make them get a bit of self respect too.
ron gorton,
surely u can do without beer a few nights a week?
a bit like that baby could do without milk for 10 - 15 minutes? i see
Ron Gorton
i in 3 families in Manchester have no income as the parents don't work.
Why oh why did I vote Labour for the last 13 years when they have done this to us?
Please let us know the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.
Stick with us and David Ron, we will solve the problems of Gorton and Manchester, we will get these lazy feckless subhumans to clean the streets, pick up rubbish to show them that they can live a meaningful and fruitful life. We beleive in the Working class principles and way of life of the past prior to those left wing lunatics who ruined it for everyone. Our policies will ensure that we work with private business to ensure that on every corner there are cash generators, or access to entrepreneurial enterprize with individuals on evry street corner buying and selling. Booze will become so expensive to the poor that they will look elsewhere for highs but hey thats their problem not ours right Ron. Privatisation is the only way forward without question, soon the police, army, fire and then the NHS.
1979 The year of "i'm alright jack" is close to its conclusion were close, Ron, very close as I have said David is close to mimicking Margret, lovely touch trying to cancel free milk for the under 5's nearly maybe next time give 6 months the public are totally behind us. Ron BELEIVE, BELEIVE WERE CLOSE
Bore-Ron
Twenty-two fellas drinking 40 pints each over a two day period for a friends stag weekend... thats what happens on a stag weekend!
I'm glad I'm not your pal...
All the parties remind me of these day's is robin hood....we're all meant to suffer and struggle under insane taxes and laws. Taxes that now see inheritance which someoe has saved and money which has already been taxed, taxed over again and again.
Meanwhile the MP's sit on their throne's surrounded by all they're money laughing at us for putting up with it. We all moan about them and this culture but don't you think its time for action against them?
It's all well and good them passing more and more taxes and putting a minimum price on alchohol when none of this will ever affect them, put them on minimum wage and see how they cope!
The yoof will av 2 nick more bling tings to pay 4 da booze now innit?
"i say scrap them. it'll sort out a massive amount of the problem straight away! if they haent got money then they cannot afford to live"
That was the approach the Bourbons took in the 1780's, didn't work to well for them
Jay B All the people I've seen drinking in the way you describe have been under 25 and they only get £51.85 a week in jobseekers. That's fine if you're living with parents, but if you have to feed yourself and live off it, it's not an awful lot of money.
Have you thought that the people you see causing the problems might actually have a job? After all they don't stamp the unemployed on the forehead so they can be identified! How do you know from simply looking at someone whether they are in employment or not?
Most of the people featured in the MEN convicted of alcohol fueled bad behaviour have been in employment so I'm not convinced that "probably be on benefits" is a sound enough reason to base anything on.
20 cans of Stella for a fiver? It would help if he actually knew how much alcohol cost before he started re-pricing it.
thoughtful, East of Manchester (11/08/2010 at 10:13) "only get £51.85 a week"
In all fairness that's probably more than a lot of working families end up with spare in their pockets each week after forking out for all the things "jobseekers" get free!!
And where wil the extra money go that is put on cheap beer ? to the government in TAX, yes by increasing the price the government has more money to give to the banks to pay big fat bonuses to their top staff...nice one..!
I am really interested to see that Mr. Cameron has our health in mind by wanting to have the minimum price of the unit of alcohol increased. What I am more interested in is the price of alcohol that MPs pay in the bars in the Houses of Parliament. I should have qualified the last sentence by putting the word FREE in front of the word bars.
Stick to getting " Bed Sore Britain " back in work. By doing that the only people to moan would be the lazy b******* that have been sponging off the decent people in this country for year after year.