Budget blitz on super-strength beers to boost Britain's health

Tax rises to fight problem drinking and boost Britain's health will be unveiled in next week's Budget, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley signalled today.

Chancellor George Osborne is set to raise duty on so-called "super-strength" beers and other drinks of over 7.5 per cent alcohol by volume.

However, tax on other drinks is also likely to rise, with Mr Lansley suggesting the planned minimum alcohol price - made up of duty plus VAT - would be affected. As he defended the Government against claims from leading health organisations that drinks firms were dictating policy, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have said we would ban below-cost selling, we have looked to establish a benchmark for that and we have increased duty on super-strength beers."

Mr Lansley spoke as six bodies including Alcohol Concern, the British

Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians refused to back the Government's "responsibility deal" on alcohol, set to be announced this week.

Under the agreement, the drinks industry would be asked to sign up to a number of pledges, including promoting responsible drinking and listing the number of alcohol units per drink on beer mats and glasses.

It is part of a wider attempt to improve the nation's eating and drinking habits which will also see fast-food chains display calorie content on menus and introduce healthier meals. Agreements with up to 150 companies will be announced tomorrow.

However, the six groups involved in the Government's Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network, which also include the British Association for the Study of the Liver, the British Liver Trust, and the Institute of Alcohol Studies, attacked the voluntary measures as "toothless".

Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said it was the "worst possible deal".

Sir Ian Gilmore, the Royal College of Physicians' special adviser on alcohol, said the measures did not give doctors "any confidence" they would "reverse this entirely preventable cause of illness and death".

Sir Ian was among a trio of experts who recently warned that up to 250,000 extra lives in England and Wales could be lost in the next 20 years unless tough restrictions on alcohol are introduced.

The liver disease death rate in the UK is 11.4 per 100,000 people, more than double that of other countries with similar drinking cultures.