Festive cheer’ or promoting “binge drinking”?

Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy has been branded the “godfather of British binge drinking” by Labour MP John Grogan. He chairs the all-party Parliamentary beer group, which receives funding from breweries. He used a Commons debate to push for action against supermarkets selling alcohol below cost price.

Mr Grogan’s comments came as MPs debated the health consequences of the availability of cheap alcohol. He said Competition Commission research showed Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket group, had underpriced beer and lager during last year’s World Cup by £15.1m. And he claimed the supermarket giants carried on the practice of selling alcohol below cost price “all the time”.

According to the BBC article Tesco chief is ‘binge godfather’

Mr Grogan told MPs: “Sir Terence Leahy must address this issue. They must stop putting their heads in the sand, the big supermarket bosses. We want some leadership from these very powerful individuals.”

A Tesco spokesman said Mr Grogan’s comments did “nothing to inform the serious social debate on binge drinking. Alcohol abuse is of course a serious concern to us all and we are playing a leading role in the efforts to tackle it. The vast majority of alcohol bought at Tesco forms part of the weekly family shop. We also know people tend to stock up on beers and wines for home use during promotional periods and consequently buy less at other times.”

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said shops selling cheap alcohol could face new laws and old MPs “We remain concerned about the practice by shops and supermarkets of deep discounting promotions - often as loss leaders and below cost price of alcoholic products.”