Politicians have heaped further pressure on the Competition & Markets Authority to ensure retailers are not being forced to sign up to illegal Reducing the Strength schemes. Andrew Griffiths, MP for Burton on Trent and chairman of the influential All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, has written to the CMA asking it to provide greater resources to ensure that council initiatives banning the sale of certain…

The trade body for advertisers has hit back at the health lobby’s renewed calls for calorie labels on alcohol, saying they “miss the point spectacularly”. The Royal Society for Public Health said alcohol should have a calorie content label in order to reduce obesity after its research suggested “80% of adults have no idea what the calorie count is in anything they’re drinking”. Public health…

The Wine & Spirit Trade Association wants the industry to push for a “modest cut” in duty in the last Budget before next year’s general election. Chief executive Miles Beale told the WSTA’s annual conference that industry-government partnerships on social responsibility issues and last year’s successful campaign to do away with the duty escalator meant the WSTA was now seen a  “a reliable partner that…

The head of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association has urged the industry to collaborate on finding ways to combat street drinking in towns and cities. Miles Beale claims retailers and sup- pliers have a vital role to play in tackling the problem and their combined efforts could form a key component of the Responsibility Deal developed with the government. Talking to OLN, he praised…