Booze problem needs a more cunning plan.

Byline: Andy Hirst

ANY increase in the cost of alcohol will be seen as the nanny state gone barking mad.

Gordon Brown has so far rejected a proposal by the Government's Chief Medical Officer, Liam Donaldson, to push up the prize of booze to try to get people to drink less.

Of course, Mr Donaldson reckons his targets are those with a drink problem and believes this kind of tough action is needed.

Funny the tough action will no doubt ending up taking millions more pounds out of the country's economy and it's not clear who would reap the extra money - the drinks industry or the Government.

Perhaps its just coincidence that some would probably end up in the Government's own, rather empty, coffers in the form of tax.

Certainly it gives those behind the idea the high moral ground - we are doing it for your own good.

What is forgotten in all this is the intelligence of most British people.

Don't get me wrong. I hate drunkenness. I despise drink drivers who are little more than killers on the roads. In my years at the Examiner the most heartbreaking stories I've dealt with include the families of drink drive victims.

I'll always remember one mum who has a photograph of her beautiful daughter hanging on a wall up the stairs.

Why there? It's so she can kiss her goodnight everytime she goes to bed.

Her daughter was knocked down and killed by an alcoholic drink driver in Huddersfield one Sunday lunchtime several years ago. OK, booze plays a critical role in domestic violence as well as trouble on the streets.

But let's keep all this in context.

Millions enjoy a drink, yet rarely or never get drunk. I enjoy a glass or two with my meal at home.

Life can be stressful. People have a couple just to unwind at the end of a long and, quite literally, taxing day.

So why should we have to pay even more taxes for this fleeting pleasure in life. Drink is already heavily taxed.

Why should the sensible ones be the collateral damage - to coin that terrible American jargon - in the bid to stop those who have a drink problem. Once again it's the majority suffering because of the actions of the minority.

Anyone who has come into contact with alcoholics know they will stop at nothing to get that next drink.

They will lie, steal and cheat - and that's just with members of their own families.

The drink is everything. Raising the prices to a minimum of 50p a unit will do nothing to stop them. At best they will make life even more miserable for their loved ones, at worst they will turn to crime like drug addicts to fund their next tipple.

What on earth makes the Government think it can tax the problem away, as if by magic?

If the extra cash was going directly into an innovative raft of schemes to tackle the drinking problem then it would be far more palatable.

The police do take action against underage kids drinking on street corners. It's simply poured away.

How many boozed-up revellers who cause mayhem on the streets late at night battling with anyone - from someone 'looking at them in a funny way' to the police or, failing anyone else, their friends - end up walking free after a night in the cells with no charges?

How many are given one-off pointless pounds 80 fines?

Where is the deterrent in that?

At least the Government now openly accepts there is a major drink problem in this country - something the rest of us have known for it feels like forever. Sir Liam throws statistics about the scale of the problem around like confetti, estimating that 1.3 million children every day are affected by drinking in their family and 125,000 domestic violence incidents in 2007/08 were due to alcohol. Medical problems caused by alcohol cost the NHS pounds 2.7bn a year.

Labour has been in power for 12 years - surely these terrible statistics show far too little has been done so far to tackle the problem. This isn't political - the Tories did virtually nothing either. Where is all the medical help for those with a major drink problem? In the early 70s, alcohol expert Dr Tobarak Hossain started a self-help group for alcoholics, former alcoholics and their families in Huddersfield. It was called Kirklees Alcohol Advisory Service and those who attended every week hailed Dr Hossain as their lifesaver.

Sadly, he died on Boxing Day 2002 - but those whose lives he turned around and saved will never forget him.

This is the kind of inspirational way forward that's needed in the battle against the booze, not trying to tax it away with absolutely no evidence that such a policy would ever work.

Drinkers put everyone second to themselves. Their kids would go without food before they went without a drink and where does that sit with the Government's failing attempts to cut child poverty.

As Sir Liam himself concedes: "We need a proper plan."

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UNWIND: I enjoy a glass or two with my meal at home