YES - Patricia Hewitt, Health Secretary
I am asking Gordon Brown, as the Chancellor, when he comes forward with the Budget next year, to increase taxes on alcohol on things like alcopops and some of the stuff that quite a lot of teenagers are drinking. We've got a real problem with binge drinking among young people that needs resolving.
NO - Ruth Kemp, Safer Neighbourhoods officer, Safer South Derbyshire Partnership, South Derbyshire District Council Taxing alcopops is a highly visible, attention-grabbing solution to youth drinking that will have little effect on actual drinking levels. In our local parks the majority of empties collected by wardens are beer cans and cheap vodka bottles, not alcopops. Only a holistic approach to tackling the drinking issue would have an effect on drinking levels, involving education, enforcement, diversions and treatment.
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