The government’s proposal to introduce a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol is regressive taxation at its worst. It is an attack on both the poor and on the middle class, the seasoned drinker and the responsible drinker. For a “Conservative-led” coalition to implement a statist, anti-market, high tax raid is counter to the historic role of the Conservative Party. The joke that only the PM and Jeremy Heywood back the policy has more than a ring of truth to it.

This week Boris entered his champion of the people mode, bashing Dave for “hitting the poorest hardest” with minimum alcohol pricing. Osborne thinks it could actually cause a drop in takings from alcohol duty, and Theresa May, who is responsible for pushing it through, is said to be “cool”. Health minister Anna “Super” Soubry – as she is ironically known by her less than enamoured colleagues – admits responsible drinkers will be hit. Ken Clarke says it won’t work, James Brokenshire agrees it penalises everybody, even the LibDem minister Jeremy Browne isn’t on board. It is also worth noting that David Davis is a particularly strong opponent.

The Cabinet is against, but the PM is steam-rolling it through. You can tell Dave what you think in the poll below…