Nick Clegg wants new law to fix drink prices By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent
26 Sep 2008
A legally enforced minimum price for alcohol should be set to tackle Britain's binge-drinking culture, the Liberal Democrats have said.
Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader said it should be made illegal for shops to sell alcohol at a loss.
Branding big supermarkets "irresponsible" for aggressively promoting alcohol sales, Mr Clegg told the Sheffield Alcohol Conference that many big stores are selling drinks at a price that does not even cover their own costs for duty and VAT.
Mr Clegg said: "It is unacceptable for retailers, especially big supermarkets, to run a coach and horses through alcohol duties in order to sell alcohol well below its cost. The immediate effect of below-cost alcohol is to tempt people to buy a lot more alcohol than would otherwise be the case.
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