MP calls for more tax on super-strength cider

The former chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group has called on the Government to crack down on super strength cider because producers are targeting the drinks at young people.

Alan Meale MP noted in the Early Day Motion (EDM) that super strength ciders cause health problems including speeding up the rate of liver cirrhosis.

He added that the drinks are taxed at “only half the amount charged on lager”, and take home high-alcohol ciders sell for as little as 16 pence per unit.

The MP for Mansfield also stated that cider sales in the UK have again risen with 47% of drinkers now regularly having a glass compared to 42% les than a decade ago; and sales have increased from 1.7bn in 2006 to 2.4bn in 2011.

Fourteen MPs have signed the petition so far. Meale said: “This is something I raise around this time every year because I have always found the differences in tax between cider and beers. It is not about the regional producers, this is about the big companies producing a high range of high alcohol products. All the medical evidence shows that it can be very harmful.“

Beers and lagers are being heavily taxed whereas the super strength drinks that are being targeted at young people are available at half the price.”