Two speech writers for a senior health minister have been fired this morning after they failed to edit his speech in accordance with government guidelines. The critical section that should have been removed contained the quintessential truth behind the government's support for minimum alcohol pricing. The minister said minimum pricing will create larger profits for producers and that, as a thank you to the government, they should share their good fortune.
He did however deny that this would be another form of stealth taxation. "This can hardly be viewed as another form of stealth taxation" he said. "The friendship gift is not taxation at all. It is an entirely voluntary contribution to the Treasury by all alcohol related businesses as a way of saying thank you for increasing their profitability. That doesn't sound like a tax to me."
Saturday, January 16, 2010
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2 comments:
It's no coincidence that the Portman Group, that represents the countries biggest brewers, advocates minimum prices!
http://www.portmangroup.org.uk/assets/documents/Alcohol%20Concern%20event%20-%20May%2009.pdf
"The friendship gift is not taxation at all. It is an entirely voluntary contribution to the Treasury by all alcohol related businesses as a way of saying thank you for increasing their profitability. That doesn't sound like a tax to me."
Doesn't sound like taxation to me, either. It sounds more like something from a Mario Puzo novel.
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