Following the Scottish Government's moves to legislate for a minimum unit price for alcohol, the upcoming overhaul of the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales and the introduction of last year's Mandatory Licensing Conditions Order, Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion) has tabled Early Day Motion 2264: Affordability and availability of alcohol and alcohol-related harm.

Dr Lucas raises several important points with her motion, such as identifying a link between alcohol-related harm and the availability and affordability of alcohol; alcohol harm has huge costs for the economy; cheap booze fuels the problem of `pre-loading'; the Government's proposed below cost ban is a weak measure; minimum pricing should be considered by the Government.

You can support this excellent EDM by writing to your local MP and asking them to signal their support for these issues by signing the motion.

Our Life is supporting this EDM as it echo's many of the alcohol issues we have been campaigning on. One such issue is the introduction of a Minimum Unit Price for alcohol, which would reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol related harm. In an Our Life survey of 30,000 people across the North West, 80% said that they thought low price and discounts increased people's drinking. Just under half also said that they avoided their town centre at night because of the drunken behaviour of others.

Please ask your MP to support this EDM as the more MPs that sign, the more pressure the Government comes under to listen to rising public concern of the harm that easy access to, and low cost of, alcohol is having. You can also visit the Parliament website to keep up-to-date with how many MPs are supporting EDM 2264.

Early day motion 2264: AFFORDABILITY AND AVAILABILITY OF ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOL-RELATED HARM

Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion)

That this House believes there is a link between alcohol-related harm and the availability and affordability of alcohol; further believes that urgent action is needed to reduce the assaults, noise and ill health that result from over-consumption of alcohol; notes that the cost to the economy of lost productivity at work, together with the bill for criminal justice and health, are a vast burden on the budgets of local authorities and on public services; welcomes the Big Alcohol Debate in Brighton to address the 100 million annual bill the city currently faces from the impact of over-consumption of alcohol; supports reducing the affordability of alcohol in off-licences and supermarkets to tackle the problem of `pre-loading' on cheap drink before a night out; further notes the Guardian newspaper investigation published on 16 February 2011 that showed that on 4,000 price promotions just one of them would be affected by the Government's policy to bar selling alcohol below the rate of duty and VAT; therefore considers Government policy ineffective; and urges the Chancellor to report to Parliament on the potential for taking further steps, including the options of minimum pricing and of a differential rate of VAT, higher for the retail sector and lower for the hospitality sector, to curtail retailers' ability to sell alcohol irresponsibly, whilst allowing our local pub trade to thrive.