David Cameron set for alcohol price crackdown

A MINIMUM pricing scheme for alcohol is set to be introduced in England, it emerged last night, just weeks after the SNP revived its plans for Scotland.

Prime Minister David Cameron is reported to have ordered officials to develop a scheme which would ban the sale of alcohol below 40p or 50p a unit in shops and supermarkets.

Although the Scottish Government has refused to say what its minimum price level would be, it was pegged at 45p a unit under the plans previously voted down by opposition MSPs.

Mr Cameron called last August for a crackdown on cheap drinks, to prevent town and city centres becoming like “the Wild West”. Earlier this month he pledged to look “very carefully” at the issue, after 19 doctors banded together to demand the introduction of a minimum-pricing scheme.

A spokeswoman for Downing Street said: “We will continue to review all available evidence. No decisions have been made.”