Backlash over ban on cheap drink

The Coalition's plans to impose a minimum price on alcohol are being opposed in the Cabinet.

David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, support the new regulations as a way of tackling alcohol-fuelled crime. But the Home Secretary, Theresa May, and her Liberal Democrat deputy Jeremy Browne are understood to be sceptical, as are Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, and Andrew Lansley, the Commons leader.

"Minimum pricing looks dead in the water," a Coalition source told The Sunday Telegraph.

A survey commissioned by the brewer SABMiller found the price rise would disproportionately affect poorer households.