Experts are today urging the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to "stand by the government's commitment to crack down on cheap drink" by retaining the alcohol duty escalator in next week's budget.Writing on bmj.com, Katherine Brown, Director at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, says the UK chancellor should resist industry lobbying to scrap the annual rise in alcohol duty because "society simply can't afford for such cheap drink to get cheaper."The duty escalator has been in place since 2008 to ensure that the price of alcohol rises at 2% above inflation.

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