Labour Banning Alcohol Ads in Latest Nanny State Nonsense – Guido Fawkes

Labour Banning Alcohol Ads in Latest Nanny State Nonsense

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Labour will unveil a ban on alcohol advertising next week as part of Wes Streeting’s new 10-year NHS plan. The government claims it’s looking at “partial restrictions” meaning either an outright ban or blacking out ads before the 9pm watershed. The same crusade we’ve seen waged against so-called “unhealthy” foods…

Predictably, professional killjoys like Alcohol Change UK are already popping corks having complained about the UK’s “far weaker advertising regulations compared to other countries”. But the actual evidence is a little less intoxicating. A 2014 Cochrane Review titled ‘Does banning or restricting advertising for alcohol result in less drinking of alcohol?’ concluded: “There is currently a lack of robust evidence for or against recommending the implementation of alcohol advertising restrictions.” Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs tells Guido:

“Less than a year after taking office, the government has already given up on serious reform and is resorting to banning things as a substitute for governing. It’s as if Rishi Sunak never left. The rise in alcohol-specific deaths happened because of prolonged lockdowns. It had nothing whatsoever to do with advertising. This is pure displacement.”

Just let the adults decide…