Sunday 11 September 2011

There Goes The Neighbourhood

Sounds nasty.

A dazed inventor was found outside his home in blackened underpants after his attempt at making vodka went badly wrong - and he blew up his home.

Lawrence Toms, 43, was tinkering with his vodka distillation equipment in his bedroom when neighbours suddenly heard a massive blast, which blew out the windows and the roof of his home.

South Wales Police said they believe that the explosion was caused by home-made alcohol. "The windows were blown out of the property and it was lucky no one in the street was injured."
It's becoming quite common, isn't it?

Five men have been killed and another seriously injured in a huge explosion at a Boston industrial estate amid claims it was sparked by an illegal vodka making operation.

Authorities were amazed that no more residents were killed during the "rapid explosion".
D'ya think it might have something to do with the UK imposing amongst the highest alcohol duty rates in the EU?

Imagine the carnage, then, if Baroness Murphy were to get her way.

The price of beer and cider has fallen by about 30 per cent in real terms since 1990, while wine and spirits have fallen by about 20 per cent.

Put the price of alcohol up to where it was twenty years ago and the problem would more or less be solved.
Or, worse still, bansturbator-in-Chief Kevin Barron?

We believe that alcohol duty should continue to rise year on year, but unlike in recent years, duty increases should predominantly be on stronger alcohol drinks, notably spirits.

[...] if the duty on a bottle of spirits had increased since the early 1980s at the same rate as earnings, it would now be £62. If the rate had increased in line with the retail prices index and not with average male earnings, the duty on a bottle of spirits would now be £38.60.
With rates that high, we wouldn't need fireworks night. Houses and flats in some areas would be going up as regularly as party poppers at an office Christmas party.

H/T IPJ


18 comments:

Anonymous said...

An explosion in my house would actually make it look neater at the moment. Best I start brewing.

Manu said...

"The price of beer and cider has fallen by about 30 per cent in real terms since 1990, while wine and spirits have fallen by about 20 per cent."

This statement does not tie up with my experience at all, although being a member of the proletariat what would I know...?

DP - what's your prediction for when the first minimum alcohol price will be imposed in the UK?

Chuckles said...

Gawd, there's a rich seam to be mined in that article DP.

Quiet_Man said...

From what I can tell, he must have been using a naked flame to heat the mash he was distilling, this is never a good idea, alcohol fumes are explosively flammable, you should always use electric hobs and a sealed system to the bottle via the filter.

Sam Duncan said...

“DP - what's your prediction for when the first minimum alcohol price will be imposed in the UK?”

If I can jump in here, Dick, the SNP has made it known it'll be in its programme for the forthcoming Scottish Parliament. Since it now has an overall majority and no longer has to rely on ad-hoc voting pacts with the Tories and independents, things look ominous. Price controls* could be in place by next summer. Stock up on hard hats and fire extinguishers, fellow Jocks.

*And what an enviable record of economic success and social contentment those have had, eh?

Anonymous said...

Generally speaking I would like to
see all health freaks and shroud wavers burned at the stake.
On the issue of raising the price
of liquor in pubs I tend to think
they are to laid back.
A massive rise on draught drinks
would be a just reward for the
backstabbing,widgetts,fidgetts
and froth sniffing apathetic
two timers who still frequent the
near empty saddo sheds.
£10 a pint,let the weasels squeel.
I was in Belgium last week falling
out with an apathetic landlord,a
shoulder shrugger,a chip chewing whimp.I finished him off by
warning him.."the next the Germans
roll in ,they can keep you"
He mentioned the lack of action by
English Landlords and English
pub customers
"REAL Englishmen dont do pubs
Henri"


Still waiting

Curmudgeon said...

"The price of beer and cider has fallen by about 30 per cent in real terms since 1990, while wine and spirits have fallen by about 20 per cent."

This is the classic neo-Pro lie. They may have fallen in relation to earnings, as over time the country has become more prosperous. But they certainly haven't fallen relative to the Retail Prices Index.

The price of beer in the off-trade has roughly kept pace with the RPI; the price of beer in pubs has considerably outstripped it.

BK881 said...

It seems to me that they are concerned about losing potential tax revenue. And that is all.

Every tax hike should be justified with a statement of the intended use and need for that revenue.

Budvar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Budvar said...

What I can't understand with government is they seem to equate tax level with tax take.

If they were to lower tobacco taxes down so a 50g pack of tobacco cost about £8 and about £4 for 20 fags, it would kill the illicit baccy trade overnight as it wouldn't be worth doing.

People (or at least I) wont go about searching for someone selling dodgey baccy to save 50p a pack over buying it in the corner shop.

With the cheap beer sold by supermarkets, who does a booze cruise these days to Calais? OK you might get the odd one doing it for the wine and champers for a wedding, but it just isn't worth the hassle.

Budvar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
James said...

I think you might be right, Dick, especially when the Daily Mail helpfully points out:

"It's not a criminal offence to brew your own alcohol for private use, unless it's being carried out without licence for commercial benefit."

Woodsy42 said...

The article confuses brewing with distilling. Whether through ignorance or deliberate intent to confuse is uncertain. I fear we are seeing language used to ultimately link them together and ban brewing (in a similar manner to HMRC's conflation of tax avoidance with tax evasion)

Ian R Thorpe said...

The Swedes have been at it for years. And only two or thre a year blow themselves up.

Anonymous said...

O/T

Looks like bad news for the Mascot MP, Philip Davies.
According to Fawkes' Boundaries Commission leak, his Shipley seat disappears - some of it merged into a Bradford (Postal Vote City) seat, some of it given to a new Leeds seat of Guiseley & Yeadon.

Of course, that reduces the number of troublemakers for Cast-Iron Dave, unless Mascot Davies can blag a new seat... somewhere near the East Coast, maybe......

Dick Puddlecote said...

Ta for the heads up, Anon. Will go have a look.

John Pickworth said...

Anyone care to do the same calculations for Tofu, Bottled Water or Brown Rice?

I'm writing to my Euro MP and demanding that the price of salad be raised immediately!

Anonymous said...

I did hear/ read that these "stills" have more to do with replacing petrol than actually drinking the hooch.