NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
In Association with the Libertarian International
Release Date: Tuesday 19th January 2010
Release Time: Immediate
Contact Details:
Dr Sean Gabb, 07956 472 199, sean@libertarian.co.uk
For other contact and link details, see the foot of this message
Release url: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/news/nr079.htm
"ALCOHOL CONTROL: BETTER ENGLAND FREE THAN ENGLAND SOBER,"
SAYS FREE MARKET AND CIVIL LIBERTIES THINK TANK
The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties
institute, today condemns proposals to make it harder for poor people to
buy alcohol. The proposals include higher taxes, compulsory minimum prices
for drink, further controls on advertising, and power to close down
retailers. The only disagreement between the three main parities is how
far they wish to go.
Speaking today in London, Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian
Alliance, comments:
"These measures, if adopted, amount to an attack on the poor. The ruling
class politicians who continually whine about alcohol will not be affected
by minimum pricing or the abolition of special offers. I might add that
none of them can be affected by such laws. Income aside, anyone who lies
his way into Parliament can look forward to round the clock drinking in
the Palace of Westminster of untaxed alcohol.
"But the measures will hurt poor people, for whom alcohol will become
cripplingly expensive and hard to find. They have the same right to drink
as the rest of us. Bearing in mind the problems willed on them by our
exploitative ruling class, they often have a greater need to drink.
"The claim that drinking 'causes' public disorder is nonsense. Alcohol
does not run about the streets. People do. If people are making nuisances
of themselves, the police should be instructed to stop behaving like New
Labour's equivalent of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and to start
protecting life and property again.
"The claim that drinking makes people unhealthy is irrelevant, where not a
lie. People must be regarded as responsible for their own mistakes. Anyone
who bleats about increased cost to the National Health Service should
consider that drinkers already pay more in taxes than the alleged cost of
treating their specific illnesses.
"We oppose all controls on the availability of alcohol to adults. Better
England free than England sober."
The Libertarian Alliance believes:
* That all the licensing laws should be repealed;
* That all controls on the marketing of alcohol should be repealed;
* That alcohol taxes should be reduced to the same level as the lowest in
the European Union, and that there should be no increase in other taxes;
* That not a penny of the taxpayers' money should be given to any
organisation arguing against the above.
END OF COPY
Note(s) to Editors
Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of the Libertarian Alliance. His latest book,
Cultural Revolution, Culture War: How Conservatives Lost England, and How
to Get It Back, may be downloaded for free from http://tinyurl.com/34e2o3.
It may also be bought. His other books are available from Hampden Press at
http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.He can be contacted for further comment on
07956 472 199 or by email at sean@libertarian.co.uk
Extended Contact Details:
The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and civil
liberties policy institute. It has published over 700 articles, pamphlets
and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms.
These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk
Our postal address is
The Libertarian Alliance
Suite 35
2 Lansdowne Row
Mayfair
London
W1J 6HL
Tel: 07956 472 199
Associated Organisations
The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to - is a sister
organisation to the Libertarian Alliance. Its mission is to coordinate
various initiatives in the defence of individual liberty throughout the
world.
Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk - contains about
a million words of writings on themes interesting to libertarians and
conservatives.
Hampden Press - http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.- the publishing house of
the Libertarian Alliance.
Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA Executive
member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes in-depth papers in French and
English on libertarianism and free enterprise. It is a prime source of
documentation on these issues for students and scholars
The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties
institute, today condemns proposals to make it harder for poor people to
buy alcohol. The proposals include higher taxes, compulsory minimum prices
for drink, further controls on advertising, and power to close down
retailers. The only disagreement between the three main parities is how
far they wish to go.
Speaking today in London, Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian
Alliance, comments:
"These measures, if adopted, amount to an attack on the poor. The ruling
class politicians who continually whine about alcohol will not be affected
by minimum pricing or the abolition of special offers. I might add that
none of them can be affected by such laws. Income aside, anyone who lies
his way into Parliament can look forward to round the clock drinking in
the Palace of Westminster of untaxed alcohol.
"But the measures will hurt poor people, for whom alcohol will become
cripplingly expensive and hard to find. They have the same right to drink
as the rest of us. Bearing in mind the problems willed on them by our
exploitative ruling class, they often have a greater need to drink.
"The claim that drinking 'causes' public disorder is nonsense. Alcohol
does not run about the streets. People do. If people are making nuisances
of themselves, the police should be instructed to stop behaving like New
Labour's equivalent of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and to start
protecting life and property again.
"The claim that drinking makes people unhealthy is irrelevant, where not a
lie. People must be regarded as responsible for their own mistakes. Anyone
who bleats about increased cost to the National Health Service should
consider that drinkers already pay more in taxes than the alleged cost of
treating their specific illnesses.
"We oppose all controls on the availability of alcohol to adults. Better
England free than England sober."
The Libertarian Alliance believes:
* That all the licensing laws should be repealed;
* That all controls on the marketing of alcohol should be repealed;
* That alcohol taxes should be reduced to the same level as the lowest in
the European Union, and that there should be no increase in other taxes;
* That not a penny of the taxpayers' money should be given to any
organisation arguing against the above.
END OF COPY
Note(s) to Editors
Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of the Libertarian Alliance. His latest book,
Cultural Revolution, Culture War: How Conservatives Lost England, and How
to Get It Back, may be downloaded for free from http://tinyurl.com/34e2o3.
It may also be bought. His other books are available from Hampden Press at
http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.He can be contacted for further comment on
07956 472 199 or by email at sean@libertarian.co.uk
Extended Contact Details:
The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and civil
liberties policy institute. It has published over 700 articles, pamphlets
and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms.
These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk
Our postal address is
The Libertarian Alliance
Suite 35
2 Lansdowne Row
Mayfair
London
W1J 6HL
Tel: 07956 472 199
Associated Organisations
The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to - is a sister
organisation to the Libertarian Alliance. Its mission is to coordinate
various initiatives in the defence of individual liberty throughout the
world.
Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk - contains about
a million words of writings on themes interesting to libertarians and
conservatives.
Hampden Press - http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.- the publishing house of
the Libertarian Alliance.
Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA Executive
member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes in-depth papers in French and
English on libertarianism and free enterprise. It is a prime source of
documentation on these issues for students and scholars
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