Derek Thomas introduced a debate on alcohol harm in the House of Commons. This is part of a cross-party campaign, led by Derek and the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, Dan Carden, to combat the harm caused by alcohol misuse. Even before the pandemic, 80 people were dying every day due to alcohol. Now, there has been a 40% increase in high-risk drinking, and deaths due to alcohol in England and Wales have increased by 20% - and alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 were the highest every recorded across many parts of the UK.
As a member of the independent Commission on Alcohol Harm, Derek has been listening to hospitals councils, academics, charities, public health experts and the victims of alcohol misuse themselves. The Commission’s report found that alcohol misuse was not just an individual problem: the total cost of alcohol to the NHS is estimated to be £3.5 billion, and alcohol-related crime in England and Wales is estimated to cost society around £11.4 billion per year.
Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and injuries. In Derek’s constituency of St Ives, between 2016 and 2018, 760 people received an alcohol-related cancer diagnosis. Moreover, in St Ives 73% of dependent drinkers in 2019-20 were not in treatment. Derek was shocked to discover that this was actually better than the national average.
Derek told the Commons
“I have seen far too many examples of when alcohol misuse has wrecked lives, trashed families, caused great disruption to communities, exhausted police and NHS staff and led to a miserable, hopeless lived experience for those who find they have an alcohol addiction.”
On an individual level, vulnerable people need to be protected from the misuse of alcohol, not just alcohol-dependent people, but their children, drink-drive collision victims, domestic abuse survivors and those who experience crime and anti-social behaviour. Derek spoke about the hidden costs of prenatal exposure to alcohol in the womb – Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder is three times more common than autism but much less widely discussed.
Derek said:
“Far from being an issue for individual responsibility, as it is often framed by the industry, there is a compelling case for Government intervention to end the cultural celebration and normalisation of alcohol in public, while vulnerable individuals suffer harm and stigma behind closed doors.
“It is unacceptable to leave their fate up to individual responsibility. Instead, we need systematic change to protect vulnerable individuals and communities.”
Derek added that there was an established link between excessive alcohol consumption and inequalities in life expectancy, social and emotional wellbeing.
“Public Health England has also stated that tackling alcohol-related harm is an important route to reducing health inequalities. For any levelling-up agenda to be truly successful, it must address alcohol harm as a top priority.”
Derek called on the Government to:
- deliver the first new Alcohol Strategy for ten years as part of its COVID recovery plans;
- introduce minimum unit pricing to reduce consumption of cheap high-strength supermarket products; and to
- introduce alcohol advertising restrictions like those on tobacco to reduce alcohol harm and protect vulnerable people.
