Supermarkets selling cheap booze to young drinkers face Brown's iron fistJo Revill, Whitehall editor
Sunday July 22, 2007
The Observer
A crackdown on supermarkets that sell cheap drink to young people is being considered by Gordon Brown as he decides how to tackle Britain's burgeoning binge-drinking culture. Experts have told Downing Street that the easy availability of super-strength lager and cider lies behind the rise in alcohol-fuelled violence and the epidemic of related health problems, such as liver disease.
There is growing evidence that many young drinkers are consuming cheap alcohol at home before going out at night into bars and clubs, where prices can be three times as high. Around half of all Britain's drink sales are made at the six major supermarkets, where drink is often heavily discounted in order to encourage shoppers into the stores.
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