Kill-joy research by the Institute of Alcohol Studies today claims that alcohol harm costs England £27.4 billion a year, putting a cork in one of Britain’s greatest cultures: drinking. The good news is, the freedom-loving Institute for Economic Affairs‘ Christopher Snowdon has pointed out that there’s no need to wine about it – alcohol doesn’t actually cost the taxpayer that much. The party-pooper research is not a cost-benefit analysis, merely a sobering “cost” account…
What the IAS paper fails to include is the £46 billion a year that the alcohol industry contributes to the economy, showing the glass is more than half full. Snowdon also points out the supposed “productivity” and “emotional” costs don’t burden the taxpayers’ wallets at all – though those buying a round at the Red Lion may beg to differ. The IEA’s analysis shows that alcohol misuse costs the public purse less than £5 billion a year, a bar tab easily covered by the more than £10 billion paid in alcohol duty. Snowdon got it down in one:
“Thanks to the UK’s high alcohol taxes, there is little doubt that drinkers continue to subsidise non-drinkers to the tune of billions of pounds.”
Cheers to that…
It’s all “carnage” in Stratford-on-Avon. Guido hears within 24 hours of Nadhim Zahawi announcing he was standing down, at least a dozen people contacted the association. Meanwhile many dozens of candidates who applied to neighbouring Bromsgrove and Solihull are said to be jumping across to Stratford in a bid to secure a rare Tory safe seat. Triangle of madness…
Michael Crick released a list of names on Thursday of some of the people eyeing up the seat, including Conservative Way Forward CEO Ed Barker, former Member of the London Assembly Tony Devenish, and David Cameron’s sister-in-law Emily Sheffield. That explains Sheffield’s recent chumocratic appointment to a CCHQ role…
It seems the list was leaked from a WhatsApp group created by the Stratford deputy chairman to convene interested parties. It has apparently already been shut down. Meanwhile, displaced Tory MP Stuart Andrew – thanks to boundary changes – is now due to speak at an event hosted by Stratford Conservatives on 27th June. Another name circulating in the SW1 rumour mill is the Adam Smith Institute’s James Price, ex-staffer to Zahawi, who is said to be considering throwing his hat in the ring. More competition for Downing Street’s Will Tanner…
Farcical events of recent weeks in Holyrood have clearly cut through. Last month Labour secured its first lead over the SNP with YouGov in ten years at 33 points versus 31. Latest polling released this afternoon by YouGov shows the SNP falling to its lowest vote share since 2014 of 29%, accompanied by Labour’s highest. Labour at 39% now has a ten-point lead – which should set off alarm bells in SNP HQ…
One fourth of Scots expect Sturgeon loyalist “Honest John” Swinney to do a better job that disastrous Humza Yousaf as he sits on a favourability rating of -3. The SNP is going to find it even harder going into the election – it only got £75,000 in donations since Yousaf took over and made a loss of over £800,000 in 2023. Compare that to Scottish Labour’s £500,000 war chest and you’ve got asymmetrical warfare…
Well-respected Treasury media SpAd Cameron Brown officially left the role on 18th April. 32 days later there is still no replacement…
Jeremy Hunt’s SpAd team is down to only three, which is slim compared to some departments – the Home Office has accrued a whopping seven after taking on two new hires in January. The empty role is an important one, especially as the government Treasury team prepares election battle calculations, which require wrangling with hacks to receive positive coverage. The dominant view among fatigued government staff is that it would be folly to serve in the gruelling role for mere weeks or months before the “boss loses his job“. One SpAd quips: “Jeremy thought he didn’t need one…”
Downing Street could transfer a capable media SpAd to the role – will no-one take the job? For the latest updates on the SpAd exodus you know where to go…
The High Court in London has just ruled that US assurances over Assange’s case are unsatisfactory. He will now get a full appeal hearing…
Assange’s team accepted the US’ assurances that he wouldn’t face the death penalty and instead argued that he would be denied the ability to rely on the First Amendment to defend himself. The two High Court judges were unconvinced by the US’ submissions…
In another win for Brexit Britain, the UK has become the top destination for investment in financial services, according to EY. The UK pulled in a whopping 108 financial services projects last year, a sharp rise from 76 in 2022, leaving European competitors in the dust. Economists point to the post-Brexit regulation-slashing Edinburgh reforms unveiled last year for the surge in investment.
The so-called powerhouses of Europe, France and Germany, trailed behind in second and third place, securing a meagre 39 and 38 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2023 respectively. The UK represented 28% of all financial projects in Europe. Anna Anthony, EY UK financial services managing partner, said:
“The UK didn’t just maintain its lead as the most attractive European financial services market last year; it extended it significantly.”
So much for the City armageddon that was promised…
