Putting up the price of one of life’s pleasures in this economic climate might seem like political suicide for the government. But dig a little deeper and the case for action on widely available cheap alcohol is clear.

The recommendation to set a price floor of 50p per unit of alcohol, made by the government’s Chief Medical Officer in his annual report, has received a cool reception by the government. Dark warnings about the “wider economic impact during this difficult time” and “punishing the responsible majority” from senior members of the government suggest the concept is being dismissed out of hand.

But there are real gains through tackling the cheap alcohol problem. Sir Liam Donaldson has suggested setting a price floor at 50p a unit, which would make a bottle of wine cost £4.50. But even at a cheaper 40p per unit, we could see real benefits: 41,000 fewer hospital admissions each year, £116m in savings for the NHS and 16,000 fewer crimes each year, according to an independent economic analysis by Sheffield University for the Department of Health. The savings from ill-health and lives lost will be priceless.

The cost to the moderate drinker has been overstated, at just 11p a week it is affordable even in straightened economic times, especially as alcohol is 70 per cent more affordable than it was in the 1980s. And can we continue to afford the cost of cheap alcohol? We all pay a share of the nearly £3 billion cost to the NHS each year of managing alcohol-related conditions. We also pay out higher prices for our supermarket shopping to subsidise cheap alcohol deals priced as ‘loss-leaders’ to draw people in. This is in addition to the human cost, as we are tragically seeing ever younger people suffering from liver disease and complications from alcohol abuse.

The prime minister is right to say the government should not penalise the majority of moderate drinkers for the excesses of the minority. And this is why a price floor is so effective. It has a differential effect, reducing consumption most amongst young drinkers and heavy drinkers, the two groups most at risk of health harm. This is because not only do they consume more, they tend to disproportionately drink the cheaper own-brand, high strength beers and ciders that would be most affected by the price floor.

The recession is used as a reason for delay. But this is exactly the right time to act. Looking at the impact of the last recession in the early 1990s, we have seen steadily rising alcohol and liver related deaths ever since. They are now at twice the level as during the last recession. If we do not act now, we could see a recession hangover of liver deaths continuing well into the economic recovery.

Taking on the alcohol industry, our love affair with alcohol and potentially our wallets will certainly take political courage, especially at this point in the economic and political cycles. But as someone once said, we’re at our best when we’re at our boldest. The time to act on cheap alcohol is now.