Following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan for England, Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre, Cat Smith, led a Commons debate in Westminster this morning (8 July) on the link between alcohol and cancer. 

The health plan, published on 3 July by the government, laid out aims to increase the alcohol content threshold at which a drink can be described as alcohol-free. 

The report noted plans to alter the threshold from 0.05% to 0.5% ABV, thus supporting innovation in the low & no sector. 

The document further noted government plans to restrict access to low & no products for under-18-year-olds to avoid the sector becoming a gateway to full-strength drinks. 

The most discussed element of the plan, however, was the proposal to tackle harmful alcohol consumption by strengthening existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling.

The plan stated this would be implemented by “introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages”. 

In the debate this morning, Smith said the packaging requirements needed to go further. She criticised “the fact that the alcohol industry is still not required to display the health risks of alcohol on product labels”. 

The MP posited that alcohol packaging needed to disclose the “addictive, harmful nature of its product”. 

In a comparison to tobacco, Smith added: “We have previously seen such activism from the tobacco industry and in relation to anti-obesity food labelling.”

Smith also outlined the World Health Organisation’s ‘Best Buy’ framework for reducing alcohol harm, which recommends policies that tackle the price, marketing and availability of alcohol. 

Quoting NHS statistics, Smith alleged that England had failed on all three pillars of the framework, arguing that alcohol is 14% more affordable since 2010, rapid home delivery services mean that alcohol can be delivered quickly and alcohol marketing restrictions are not firm enough. 

Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford, stood behind Smith. He welcomed the government’s 10-year plan but noted a need for further consumer education on the health risks of alcohol. 

“It is essential that we get the message across that just as we need to modulate our eating habits, we need to consider alcohol,” Shannon said.  

This was seconded by Frank McNally, MP for Coatbridge and Bellshill, who stressed the importance of early intervention education. 

Grahame Morris, MP for Easington, added that while “commitments on labelling are welcome, they do not go far enough and are not proportionate to the scale of the crisis”. 

Morris asked the minister to consider further measures ahead of the National Cancer Plan, which will be published in autumn. 

Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, also called for “far more ambitious” labelling measures. 

Many of the MPs present also called for the introduction of a national alcohol strategy, which Ashley Dalton, minister for public health and prevention, said there were no current plans for. 

Dalton listened to the concerns about health warnings on packaging and noted the role of the 10-Year Plan in changing producer behaviour.