ALCOHOL-RELATED ADMISSIONS TO ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY

That this House notes with grave concern the report published on 5 September 2012 by the North West Public Health Observatory at the Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University revealing that accident and emergency staff dealt last year with 1.2 million admissions of people with alcohol-related health problems; is alarmed that there was an increase of more than 50,000 such admissions during the year, including over 10,000 more in London alone; further notes that experts are again warning that cheap alcohol is to blame for increasing numbers of people with liver and other drink-related health problems; and calls on the Government to bring forward as a matter of urgency legislative proposals that would implement a minimum unit price for alcoholic drinks and beyond that provide for comprehensive measures to address the UK's serious and growing alcohol crisis.