‘Alcohol harm is a public health crisis — and industry lobbying is blocking action’

We may not want to talk about it, but our country has a serious problem with alcohol. Alcohol deaths still soar above pre-pandemic levels and alcohol harm costs over £27 billion a year in England alone, straining the NHS and other public services.

It is often those in the most deprived areas who suffer the most. These are realities I see reflected in my own constituency.

This public health crisis clearly warrants an evidence-based policy approach. Yet action on alcohol harm has been slow and inadequate for well over a decade, a dynamic which has sometimes been attributed to the political power of the alcohol industry in the UK in outmanoeuvring and undermining proposed regulation.

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The publication of the 10 Year Health Plan for England last summer was set to be an important moment for our nation’s health and the future of our NHS. Yet when it was released, the Plan was missing an anticipated policy on alcohol marketing restrictions, a key World Health Organization (WHO)-backed way to reduce harm.

A new Institute of Alcohol Studies report provides clear evidence of a coordinated alcohol industry lobbying campaign to drop the policy from the 10 Year Health Plan. Based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the report details how, just a week before the Plan was published, major alcohol companies and trade groups put pressure on the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about marketing restrictions.

Not only did companies and trade groups directly approach the Health Secretary about the policy, they also urged the Chancellor and Business Secretary to intervene with DHSC on their behalf. The study reveals how letters and emails from alcohol industry representatives made misleading claims about evidence and exaggerated economic threats about the impact of restricting marketing.

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Marketing restrictions are backed by decades of international evidence and should be an uncontroversial way to protect children, young people, and the broader public from harm. Several countries, including France, Norway and, more recently, Ireland, restrict alcohol marketing in some way.

Yet in the UK we do not restrict marketing and largely rely on the alcohol industry to regulate itself in this area. This system is clearly not working, particularly in a digital context, where one third of children and young people report being shown alcohol-related content from businesses and influencers online. However, marketing restrictions are clearly not in the interest of alcohol industry giants.

The IAS report also reveals that alcohol companies and trade groups insisted on being involved in developing health policy and claimed to care about public health and reducing health inequalities. This is despite the clear conflict of interest between a public health approach to alcohol, which means reducing consumption, and the alcohol industry’s goal to sell more product and maximise returns for shareholders.

At a time of shocking levels of alcohol harm, it is deeply troubling that the alcohol industry was able to exert this kind of influence on a flagship NHS policy. It also departs from the needs of the public. Unfortunately, our communities will pay the price.

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This episode demonstrates that we need strong conflict of interest policies in place across Government departments. We need to limit the ability of companies whose products cause harm to influence policy decisions, particularly those regarding health. It should never be the case that an evidence-based public health policy is rowed back due to industry pressure.

This type of policy is not new. We already have strict rules to protect policymaking from the tobacco industry. Previous guidance from Public Health England laid bare that collaborating with the alcohol industry on health policy was a risk to its work and made recommendations on limiting industry engagement.

Having robust conflict of interest policies and rules in place to protect policy from this type of interference will be especially important for future alcohol-related policymaking.

After a decade of inaction under Conservative governments, Labour is pushing forward with two evidence-based policies to reduce alcohol harm: mandatory health and nutrition labelling on alcohol products and consulting on changes to drink-driving limits in England and Wales. However, the drinks industry recently met with DHSC and will be attempting to water down commitments on mandatory health labelling.

We must therefore be prepared to reject industry attempts to influence these policies which have important implications for our health.

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As this new report demonstrates, perhaps the greatest challenge to tackling alcohol harm is facing down pressure from the industry itself. Public interest must be placed above that of alcohol industry shareholders. Our health and the public’s trust in our policymaking processes depend on it.

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