Will I get a response if I re-post this?

[smart1]

Cheaper for us all, REALLY?
Having watched the programme on ITV tonight regarding alcohol consumption in Britain, I cannot rid myself of this feeling that the only way to solve it is by pushing up prices is bureaucratic brainwashing. I believe in 'moderation in all things'. My view is this, for what it is worth. People really do not set out to become alcoholic. Sadly, when & if they do, it is not down to the fact that booze is cheap. There are usually far more deep-seated reasons for it. Depression, low self-esteem, joblessness - as has been the case for scores of years. All the government would do by increasing the price of drink is make it just one more elitist 'product' - another 'punishment' for the working classes, such as premier leaugue football on TV( we have to subscribe to such as Sky, then pay for Sky+ etc to watch our national team), smoking, theatre, even cinema. My solution (if there is one) would be to stop glamourising alcohol in adverts, and actually to stop TV advertising of alcohol. I know people who are alcoholic, and they have all said they were doing OK at quitting until they saw the studio light enhancing the glow of the brandy or whatever, then they wanted a drink. After the drink, what next for the taxman? Fresh air? Ski slopes? Gyms? Really, the working classes are being unashamedly squeezed, and it will continue, under the guise of cutting costs to the NHS.
We wait to see.

[anneasquith]

re the alcoholic eddie,,,, they will just buy cheaper alcohol, which in turn may well cost the NHS more money, cheap alcohol damages the liver quicker i believe.

[smart1]

JTH - as usual, you miss the point of the question. You constantly snipe at others, thinking you know what they mean. You say you cannot afford those things as a matter of course - neither can I - but my point is, and will always be, why should the ones who CAN afford it raise the price? Because clearly, they will always be able to afford it. And when they blame the lower classes for drinking it all, lets ask the question? How much have we paid in the past, and today, for Euro MP's hangovers?
And HOP MP's.

[smart1]

OK Eddie, will take a look. But I actually had a letter from DWP to tell me.