The news teams have been going on all day about chief medical officer Liam Donaldson’s proposal that alcohol should have a 50p per unit minimum price. And they focused upon “punishing the majority for the sins of the minority” (ie, binge drinking). However, the reason why I would support the move (and am very disappointed to hear that the Government may not take up the plan) is that it would help to level the playing fields between pubs and harly affect pub prices, if at all. The Government would still be getting plenty of tax payments in, and the 50p rise strikes me as a much more sensible plan than the 2% duty escalator heading our way inevitably in the forhtcoming Budget.