Alcohol Labelling Bill [HL]

My Lords, it was almost predictable that we would have a good Second Reading debate today given the list of speakers. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, that I thought very seriously about notices in pubs and off-licences. She made a very strong point. As I said in my opening remarks, I wanted to keep my speech very focused. I take the point that she made about the cost to society and the nation of children who are affected by this syndrome. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Monson, that we are not saying that all pregnant women who binge drink will have foetuses with some form of foetal alcohol syndrome. Nor are we saying that the foetuses of all pregnant woman who drink will have foetal alcohol syndrome. We are talking about the minority who drink a lot or perhaps even a little, whose foetuses may be affected if the alcohol is consumed at the wrong time. We are not preventing them from drinking, we are just issuing a warning. On the subject of labels, to the best of my knowledge the relevant labels that I have seen are on the back of bottles of wine. That is certainly the case with bottles that I have seen in the United States. In Australia, I believe that they are on the side. I have no desire for such labels to be inspired by the designs of Matisse or any other great artist. I should have loved the noble Baroness, Lady Neuberger, to be a co-sponsor. I agreed with everything that she said. I thank the noble Earl, Lord Howe, for the support that he gave on the previous occasion the Bill was introduced and again today. I thank the Minister for his remarks. It was good that he said there was government understanding of the issue and no complacency about the fact that something needed to be done. He gave a very strong hint about a voluntary code. If such a code were100 per cent effective, it would a good thing. However, he hinted strongly that if there were any wavering on this issue, the Government would support legislative action. That is as much as we can hope for. I ask the House to give the Bill a Second Reading. On Question, Bill read a second time, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.