The government makes the case AGAINST minimum alcohol pricing

I've just got around to reading the Spectator which contains this gem from Andrew Lansley

'....My problem with a minimum price, well I have two problems. One is it’s regressive, so there are perfectly normal families who just don’t happen to have much money who like to buy cheap beer or cheap wine. Should they be prevented? No, I don't think so and if you put in a minimum price, one of the journalists calculated that if you set it at 50p a unit it would add £600 million to the profits of retailers and drinks manufacturers which doesn’t seem to me to be the right thing to do in these circumstances.'

I couldn't put it better myself

Well I suppose I could add its illegal under EU law, pour money into the hands of criminal gangs through industrial scale smuggling and will do nothing to 'solve' binge drinking while it's described as having three pints in a night