A Tory pledge to call time on sales of cheap supermarket booze is today exposed as a dismal failure.
Shoppers can down the weekly maximum alcohol amount recommended by doctors for less than the price of a takeaway coffee.
It comes a decade after ex-Prime Minister David Cameron announced a minimum 40p price for a unit of alcohol to reduce its damaging impact on health and links to criminal behaviour.
We visited supermarkets to see how badly he failed.
A two-litre bottle of 5% ABV Crumpton Oaks Dry Cider, containing 10 units of alcohol, is just £2.10 at Morrisons.
That means you could drink the weekly maximum 14 units recommended by the NHS for just £2.94 – less than the cost of a cappuccino.
A unit of alcohol in the cider works out at 21p – half the 40p Cameron wanted.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s sell two-litre bottles of cider the same strength. Tesco’s is £2.30 while Sainsbury’s is £2.85.
Asda’s Hawksridge cider is the cheapest of those surveyed at £2 for two litres but at 4.2%, or eight units, it is weaker.
Launching his crackdown in 2012, Mr Cameron said treating alcohol problems or the victims of drunken attacks costs the NHS £90 for every taxpayer – £2.7billion a year. He said: “This is one of the scandals of our society and I am determined to deal with it.”
But he ditched the idea, believing it would not reduce excessive drinking – although Wales and Scotland have brought in a 50p minimum alcohol price.
It now costs the NHS in England £3.5billion a year to treat alcohol related harm.
Alice Wiseman, of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “The bulk of alcohol harm, including deaths and disease, falls on the most deprived people in communities.
“As alcohol has got cheaper, the harm to individuals and communities has got worse. It is a scandal that people can drink a week’s worth of alcohol for the price of a coffee.
“We need action at national level to protect health, our NHS and our emergency services.”
The Department of Health said: “This year we have invested £93million to rebuild drug and alcohol misuse treatment and services in England.
“We are funding specialist alcohol care teams in hospitals with highest need.”
Andrew Opie, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “While supermarkets work hard to keep prices affordable, they have also led the way in helping customers drink responsibly, adopting the Health Department’s labelling.
