SIR, The Government's recently announced programme of measures to curb the ghastly cult of binge drinking, which has inexplicably affected the majority of today's youth of both sexes, is likely to have little or no effect.

It is a simple fact of life, known to all except those who persistently bury their heads in the sand, that demand for anything in this world is determined by only two things, price and availability.

The situation could be vastly improved if the chancellor were to include in his next budget a measure to increase the excise duty on beer and spirits by 10 per cent in addition to any cost of living increase, this to be followed by a similar increase for the next four years.

A review could then be carried out to ascertain whether any substantial improvement had taken place. If not, the measure could be repeated for a further five years.

In addition, the prices of drinks should be the same for all hours during which the premises are open. No more 'happy hours' or doubles for £1 extra.

Also helpful would be a reduction in opening hours, rather than an increase as is being proposed.

The introduction of continental drinking hours will be counter-productive unless the chancellor is prepared to finance and carry out partial lobotomies for the thousands of misguided characters concerned.

Similar increases could be made in the duty on tobacco, rather than wasting millions of pounds every year for little effect.

The combined effect of these two measures would lead to the saving of thousands of lives, and improve the quality of life for millions.

The reduction in the cost of medical services required would be enormous. It might even be enough to deter the chancellor from imposing even further drastic penalties on motorists and home-owners, to finance his misguided and often trifling spending schemes.

Laurence H. Frankland Ulverston