Drinkers’ Voice, the organisation representing moderate drinkers across the UK, briefed members of the Guild on its progress in the four months since launch.
At the briefing, held at the Kings Stores pub in the City, Chair of Drinkers’ Voice Byron Davies and director Dr Richard Harding presented the organisation’s background, aims and view on alcohol policies.
Davies said, “The vast majority of people are responsible drinkers and we believe they should not be penalised through policies such as Minimum Unit Pricing. Drinking in moderation is an important part of life for millions of people, bringing them together to socialise and celebrate.
“For too long, the anti-alcohol lobby has dominated the conversation on alcohol and health, resulting in misleading media coverage. Drinkers’ Voice aims to give the public a voice in the debate on moderate drinking.”
Harding explained the background to the current Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines, introduced in January 2016, pointing out that they ignored existing evidence of alcohol’s protection against some diseases including coronary heart disease. Harding was a member of the working party that produced the Sensible Drinking report in 1995.
Members may want to read Harding’s article published in The Spectator last December: https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-problem-with-the-public-health-message-on-alcohol/ and an earlier article by Christopher Snowden: https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-new-drinking-guidelines-are-based-on-massaged-evidence/. He also highlighted the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR), a group of scientists who write critiques of research on alcohol and public health: http://alcoholresearchforum.org
Drinkers’ Voice is funded entirely by donations from members of the public and its directors and other spokespeople are all volunteers. To support Drinkers’ Voice with a donation, visit https://drinkersvoice.org.uk/campaigns/donate/
The Drinkers’ Voice briefing was part of the Guild’s ongoing schedule of events, as it encourages members to continually expand and update their knowledge about beer and pubs. Events in 2017 included seminars on beer in the off-trade and on brewing ingredients, a workshop on cooking/matching food with beer and training on digital communications, pitching and negotiating and a ‘Meet the Editors’ evening.