• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Institute of Alcohol Studies HomepageInstitute of Alcohol Studies

Bringing together evidence, policy and practice to reduce alcohol harm

  • Home
  • About us
    • People
    • Our strategy
    • Small Grants Scheme
    • Networks
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
  • Publications
  • Explore by Topic
    • Alcohol across society
    • Availability
    • Consumption
    • Economy
    • Health
    • Marketing
    • Price
    • The alcohol industry
    • Transport
    • Violence and crime
    • Help and support
  • News & Comment
    • Latest news and events
    • Blog
    • Alcohol Alert
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • See all
  • Search
News

George Howarth Serves up a ‘Bucks Fizz’

17th July 1997

George Howarth Serves up a ‘Bucks Fizz’

“George Howarth, Home Office Minister, has served a bucks fizz
with his measures to deal with alcopops”, says Derek Rutherford
commenting on today’s announcement.

Whilst we welcome measures which help to enforce the law to
curb under age drinking and protect minors, we believe that the proof of
age scheme together with the code of practice should have been made
mandatory if it is to have the desired impact.

The buck has been passed to the retailers to act responsibly.
The retailer is to be hauled before the courts to answer the question
why his shelves contain alcopops which have been declared irresponsible
by the Portman Group. Yet it is the Portman Group’s paymaster who has
committed the primary offence in producing the socially unacceptable
drink.

The Minister has ignored the demands of a substantial number
of his own backbenchers who have called for ‘stringent statutory
controls’.

More news items
Missed opportunity to curb underage drinking
Luncheon to honour the Rt Hon Baroness Castle and the 30th Anniversary of the introduction of the breath test

Footer

IAS is proud to be a member of

  • Twitter
  • Bluesky
  • Spotify
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Contact us

©2025 Institute of Alcohol Studies

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok