REDUCTIONS IN ALCOHOL DUTY

That this House notes the estimate made by HM Treasury that the abolition of the Alcohol Duty Escalator in 2014 will cost the Exchequer over £1.2 billion over the next four years; further notes that over the same period the same money could fund the salaries of 7,838 A&E nurses, 4.6 million bed days or over five million emergency ambulance call-outs; views with alarm calls for further cuts in alcohol duty which will reduce prices, increase alcohol consumption and impose greater pressures on the NHS; and calls on the Government to support hard-working nurses, doctors, ambulance personnel, social workers and police officers.