The Institute of Alcohol Studies brings together evidence, policy and practice from home and abroad to promote an informed debate on alcohol’s impact on society. IAS' purpose is to advance the use of the best available evidence in public policy decisions on alcohol. Alcohol alert covers the latest updates on UK alcohol policy matters. 

November 2024: Gambling industry harms and parallels with the alcohol world - On this month’s podcast we spoke to Will Prochaska, Leader of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads and former Chief Executive of the charity Gambling with Lives. We discussed: What the gambling world looks like; The harms associated with gambling; Why New Labour’s liberalisation of gambling was "one of the worst things we did as a government" according to Alastair Campbell; The many similarities in how the alcohol and gambling industries behave; And the pros and cons of a levy on the gambling industry. On the podcast Mr Prochaska said: “The industry would like to present that only those people who are addicted are harmed. But actually, there are a whole host of lower level harms that aren’t given the importance they deserve.” On Wednesday 27 November, after our podcast recording, the government announced that it will introduce a £5 per spin limit to online slots betting for adults 25 and older, and a £2 limit per bet for 18 to 24-year-olds. Gambling minister Baroness Fiona Twycross also said that the government would introduce “the first legally mandated” tax on the betting industry, which will be used to fund research, prevention, and treatment of gambling harm. On Twitter Mr Prochaska said: “Today's announcement of a statutory levy on gambling companies is a hard won step in the right direction, but it must mark the beginning of a full government review of gambling’s place in society."

November 2024: Chancellor keeps off-trade duty in line with RPI while increasing Draught Relief - On this month's podcast we spoke to Dr Aveek Bhattacharya, Research Director at the Social Market Foundation, about the decisions taken on alcohol duty in Labour's first Budget in 14 years. We discussed the positives and negatives of the decisions, whether Labour could and should have been more radical, how duty should be structured to cover the cost of alcohol harm, and whether public health groups should have welcomed the decision.

September 2024: The history of temperance and IAS - In this month’s podcast we spoke to Dr James Kneale, Associate Professor in Geography at University College London, about the history of temperance. We discussed: - The many manifestations of different temperance groups and movements - Why temperance movements emerged in the 19th Century - How they provided alternative public spaces to drinking establishments - The links they often had with working class social movements, including football clubs - The United Kingdom Alliance and its links with IAS - And the links between Sporty Spice and temperance

August 2024: Killer Tactics: How tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy food and drink industries hold back public health progress - In this month's podcast we spoke to Alfie Slade, Government Affairs Lead at the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA), about a new report called Killer Tactics. The report was developed by the OHA alongside the Alcohol Health Alliance and Action on Smoking and Health, and calls for MPs to reject corporate hospitality from these unhealthy product industries. The report shares the common tactics used by these three industries in order to protect industry profits at the expense of public health.

July 2024: Reasons for (cautious) optimism with the new government - On this month's podcast we spoke to Lisa Erlandsen, the Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Alcohol Health Alliance. We discussed reasons to be cautiously optimistic with the new government regarding public health, what could prevent progress from being made, why the alcohol industry needs to be removed from health policy-making, and what the AHA will be focusing its attention on in the coming months.

June 2024: BMA calls for reduction in drink driving limit - In our podcast this month we spoke to liver doctor Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, who is also chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance and current president of the BMA, as well as Suzanne Wood, Head of Population Health at the BMA. We discussed the BMA's recent consensus statement calling on the government to reduce the drink driving limit, what else would need to be introduced for the policy to reduce harm, and Sir Ian's words of wisdom to the next BMA president.

May 2024: Alcohol harm costs England £27.4 billion a year - On this month's podcast we spoke to IAS's Chief Executive, Dr Katherine Severi, about our new research that found that alcohol harm costs society £27.4 billion a year. We discussed the cost to various elements of society, why it is important to understand the cost, why reducing harm and supporting the hospitality industry are not mutually exclusive, and what an incoming government should focus on to reduce alcohol harm and its cost.

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