At a recent event held in the House of Commons Fiona was presented with a Parliamentary Award “MP of the Decade” by the Alcohol Health Alliance in recognition of her contribution to tackling alcohol harm over several years, and in particular her success recently in persuading the Government to change the law on the production of “white cider”, a dangerously strong alcoholic product which has caused considerable harm and even death to many young people.
At the event, to mark the AHA’s tenth anniversary, it brought together representatives of many alcohol and health organisations, concerned about rising levels of alcohol harm across the UK.
For several years, the AHA and the charity Alcohol Concern have worked together with MPs including Fiona Bruce, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm, to campaign for measures to tackle alcohol harm and reduce the burden of alcohol on the health service. They have campaigned for measures such as tax increases on the cheapest drinks, and marketing restrictions to prevent the exposure of children to alcohol adverts. Fiona Bruce has spoken many times in Parliament about such concerns and was recently commended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his budget speech for her work in highlighting the health danger to young people of white cider, a drink with high alcoholic content, and for Fiona’s proposals to help address this problem.
Fiona was presented with the award ‘MP of the Decade’. Upon receiving the award Fiona said:
“It is a great privilege to receive this award and I will continue, in my role as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm, to fight for measures which tackle alcohol harm. There is absolutely nothing wrong in drinking alcohol in moderation, but great harm is caused through excessive drinking not just to those who drink but also to their families and even more widely in communities such as to employers through absences and of course to the NHS. I am pleased that at last the Government is beginning to recognise that more needs to be done to address this.”