It'll be interesting to see if they make a special exemption for Scotch.

Doubtful Dick, Baden, Switzerland

It's all about control, and, as Mr Hames says, raising taxes for seemingly virtuous reasons.

Control your wine & drinks.
Control your car.
Control your health-care, ration it if you're not correct in your habits.
Control if you buy a holiday home.
Control your children's education to approved opinions.
Control your attitudes - be "PC", you know it makes sense.
etc, ad nauseam.

In short, your life to be in their hands and if you behave you'll be permitted a few crumbs and jollies.

"New" Labour's Brave New World.

Britain never never never will be slaves ?

Stan-emigrated, USA, USA

Raising duty on drinks will have no effect on binge drinking - other than the fact that those concerned will now have to get legless on just 10 vodkas rather than the usual 12. I doubt if anyone in Britain regards this proposal as anything other than yet another revenue raising exercise by an increasingly out-of-touch Government. A substantial fine on anyone found "drunk & disorderly" might at least have the effect of depriving the individual concerned of his drink money for 2-3 weeks !

Jim Scott, Prestwick, Scotland

I will know this man is serious about tax collection when he slams a tax on specialist mono-brow hair removing products.

David Williams, Eastnor, England

well we warned you all. When the smoking ban was introduced and accepted then this bunch would look for the next target - which was obviously going to be "stay at home drinkers" the vast majority now our glorious pubs have been emptied. The loss of income must be addressed.
Reap what you have sown.

John, Dover, UK

Your reporter ought to know by now that contentious "news" is always "leaked" before the budget to distract the electorate from the actual new stealth tax.

Tony, Rugby,

"Tap, tap, tap" ... Mr Darling hammers another nail into his own coffin!

Philippa, London,

Don't worry. This shower will be out on their ears at the next election. The middle classes have had enough.

Robin, London, UK

If this tax increase goes through, which on wine often represents the main percentage of the retail price, then this government will have stooped to a new low. The majority of Europe enjoys alcohol tax which is a fraction of the UK's AND HAS NONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF BINGE DRINKING.
The electortate will realise this, just as we will soon be receiving parking tickets through the post, this tax will be simply to raise money unfairly to spend on GORDO's latest ministerial initiatives to WASTE OUR MONEY.

David Nammory, Liverpool,

A bottle of wine in the evening is the only thing that makes living under NuLab bearable!

Rebecca, Tavistock,

This is what happens when you start to allow the Government to decide what is and isn't 'good for you'. Although this is about raising taxes (as the Government is running out of money) the justification used is health - we know what is good for you. With other legislation that has been introduced setting the scene for this scenario.

John, Reading, uk

The last Labour Government were taken to the European Court by the French - God bless them - for discriminating against wine drinkers by taxing the workers' beer more lightly, and the French will do it again if Darling tries another stunt like this.

Robert, Glasgow, Scotland

As Chris says - on Thursday last week in Hong Kong import duty on wine was slashed from 40% to 0% (and it was cut from 80 to 40% only last year) - in recognition of the fact that wine (particularly fine wine) is a way of creating a market and jobs. The expat community is toasting the Finance Secretary with vintage Bollinger, and our Chinese compatriots are looking forward to opening yet more wine bars in LKF - you can bet the mark ups won't diminish by 40%!

Clare Williams, Hong Kong, SAR China

Surely Alistair Darling will not attack "middle-class wine drinkers" in his next budget - he would be penalising the potential donors who were invited to Labour's fund-raising party in the Chelsea Suite at the Royal Horseguards Hotel
Or perhaps he regards them as upper-class drinkers?

Tony Pike, Betchworth, Surrey

The duty on wine and beer has barely kept pace with inflation since Gordon Brown became Chancellor and spirits, the base of all the alchopops driving our kids into alcoholic morons every weekend, has not increase one iota so what the hell is Brown and his lap dog Darling upto now and how do they reconcile their conscience with the nation's current drinking habits.
Hypocrites, complete hypocrites.

AWilliams, Cradley Heath,

Why is that, in the rest of Europe, where taxes, on alcohol, are so much lower than they are in Britain, they do not seem to have such a huge binge-drinking problem? Maybe it's time that governments, of all colours, wondered whether, or not, the reason for binge drinking in the U.K. is because it's such a miserably expensive place to live in. It's not just this government, it's the whole rotten lot of them.

I, many years ago and like many others before me, have voted with my feet and have a far better lifestyle, eating far better produce, for far less cost.

Marc, Paris,

What really rankles with me is the way this Government takes us all for imbeciles. They trot out their euphemisms for 'more taxes', coupled with some righteous blather about health or climate and seem to think we all nod our heads in solemn agreement.

What I'd really like is some good, old-fashioned honesty: 'Look guys, we're in the doodoo up to our ears through complete mismanagement of the country's finances and need more cash pronto - know you'll all understand. Love A. Darling'.

anne, bournemouth,

I will be booking my ferry tickets shortly... snigger...

Chantel, Wales,

It is pointless expecting the new licensing laws to have resulted in a continental style cafe culture within a couple of years. The British have made something special out of boozing for two hundred years or more and it will take more than a couple of years to see any change. The review referred to in the article would have no meaning unless, say, fifty years had elapsed from the licensing law changes.

Perhaps more Government encouragement towards greater affinity with continental lifestyles instead of believing that we are still fighting them on the beaches, would help.

Roy, Chinnor,

This will be a tax on those that live along way from the channel ports. We either pay the increased duty on our wine, or pay the increased duty on our fuel driving 500 miles to Dover. Mind you, this lot we've got up here would probably want to raise the duty by a few pounds a bottle, but then I'll be able to afford to drive to England.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

That's frikkin' hilarious.
Two pints of Petrus snakebite with an Ausone depth charge please stout yeoman of the bar..and two straws.
Kid Charlemagne, W10

Kid Charlemagne, Notting Hill, UK

We're already getting the 'stick a green label on it and justify taxing it' and now we're to get the 'stick a health label on it and justify taxing it'. I can't help feeling the government has run out of money.

i.e., Norwich, England

Drunkenness is nothing at all to do with the price or availability of alcohol and everyhting to do with society and attitudes. I live in Italy where it is normal to have house wine in a resturant for as little as £4 a litre. Good wine is available form the producers for very little from 4 euros a bottle and much less if you buy 5 litre containers and rebottle it at home as most Italians do. Yet in the three years we have lived here I have never seen an Italian drunk or even a little bit merry. People are interested and knowledgeable about wine. there are wine festivals and courses on wine tasting which are aimed at the average person rather than just the wine expert.
Drunkenness is despised and condiderd socially unacceptable at all levels of society. Obesity is also frowned on..
What is needed in England is not more tax but a different attitude. However with the present government in charge I can understand why people seek oblivion in the bottom of a bottle.

c chapman, corridonia, italia

The more this Government comes out with ignorant and definitely not "joined up thinking" proposals, the more I am convinced that it is a time for CHANGE (as proposed by Brown in his conference speech); that is a CHANGE of government which probably was not he intended!

M. Cawdery, Portadown, UK

I'm not sure whether the wine drinkers depicted in ancient Greek and Roman paintings, mosaics etc. were middle-class or not, but certainly people have been enjoying wine for thousands of years. Why is it suddenly being demonised? And what about the advice of Dr Stuttaford and others that a moderate consumption of wine can actually benefit health? If Mr Darling wants to raise duty, perhaps he should look at whisky, which Gordon Brown left unscathed year after year. Or, as he too is Scottish, is it sacred for Mr Darling as well?

Barry , Wallington, UK

Ahh, the New Puritans finally find common cause with their 17th century predecessors.

As the Prince Regent once said, "Pray bring me a glass of brandy. I feel quite faint."

Anton the Irascible, Melbourne, Australia

"Middle-class wine drinkers" is just code for "Conservative voters". A purely health-targeted tax would hit Labour voters disproportionately.

Nigel MacNicol, Oakham, Rutland UK

Do your worst Mr. Darling as my family hasn't paid any duty or UK tax on booze in more than 15 years. Since the limits of EU bought alcohol were removed in 1992 we all went twice a year to France on a cheap booze cruise to load up with enough wine and spirits for 6 months. In fact on one memorable occasion I had over 100 litres of Brandy from Spain and although customs at Dover clearly saw it in the back of my car they were more concerned by a modest amount of VAT paid Spanish cigarettes. This particular customs guy didn't even try that 'recommended allowance' crap on me as he apparently knew it broke EU law or knew that I knew it did and just waved me through. There is no reason for middle England to pay the extortionate VAT & Duty on wine and spirits even if you live 150 miles from a port. Sorry Mr. Darling, you'll have to find some other way of overtaxing middle england.

Mike, Alicante, Spain

Two things spring to mind here
a) what I choose to drink at home is none of the governments business. Their natural inclination to interfere is demonstrated by this desire to regulate my drinking. I am an adult and I'll make my own damm choices
b) I would like to suggest that Carling concentrates on his day job and possibly getting a grip on his predecessors profligate spending and closing the governments borrowing requirement
This is just another example of focussing on the wrong problem - methinks we have enough economic issues to be resolved without this side show on drink .

Tony , Cardiff ,

As usual our blinkered politicians ignore the inconvenient fact that price has nothing to do with binge drinking. Prices of alcolol on the Continent are much lower than the UK and yet, surprise, surprise, countries like France, Spain and Italy do not suffer from the same binge drinking problems.

bruce burniston, Swansea, UK

A sharp increase in duty, you say? Oh, dear, I had been expecting some form of cash incentive along the lines of the payments proposed for the fatties and unfit to remedy their respective conditions!
Well, as already observed, I expect the expected duty increase will do some good for the ferry companies and Eurotunnel.

m collins, Leeds,

Come to Hong Kong. They've just abolished all tax on wine. They've got a hefty surplus of funds too which Brown and Darling would kill for. Bad luck boys. 10 years of profligate spending gets you to where you are!

chris, hong kong, china

Looks like more trips to France then.

Must remember to fill up with diesel there as well.

Pity about the extra emissions though

John, Bromley, England

I'll drink to that.

michael tindall, Christchurch, new zealand

Cheers!

john, Skipton, North Yorks

"Mr Darling surely cannot be assuming that all wine drinkers are middle class or that middle-class people consume only wine and not any other alcohol."

I suspect that is EXACTLY what he plans to do.

Brown only liberalised alcohol so that he could tax it more heavily.

Edwin, Bucharest,