We delivered our petition to 10 Downing Street

The Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

CC: The Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention

25 June 2025

The UK government must act on alcohol now to prevent cancer

Dear Prime Minister,
On behalf of more than 20 organisations and public health leaders, we are writing to share our deep concern about the continued lack of action to reduce alcohol consumption across the United Kingdom. In particular, the absence of a National Alcohol Strategy for England stands in stark contrast to the scale of harm caused by alcohol, with alcohol-specific deaths having increased by 42% in England between 2019 and 2023 alone.

This week marks Cancer Prevention Action Week (CPAW) – a national campaign led by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) – which seeks to empower the public and inspire change to prevent cancer. This year, CPAW is shining a spotlight on the link between alcohol and cancer, and the urgent need for government action.

In the UK, alcohol causes around 17,000 cases of cancer every year – equivalent to 46 people receiving a diagnosis every single day. And as our population ages and grows, these numbers are projected to rise. Worryingly, the pandemic has also driven an increase in high-risk drinking. Modelling by the Institute of Alcohol Studies and Health Lumen suggests that if this trend persists, we could see an additional 18,785 cancer cases by 2035.

Public awareness remains alarmingly low that alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, the same category as tobacco and asbestos, and a cause of seven types of cancer, including two of the most common breast and bowel as well as mouth and throat, oesophageal, liver and stomach cancer. These risks are present even at low levels of consumption. New polling commissioned by WCRF reveals that when asked unprompted only 1 in 14 UK adults are aware that alcohol increases cancer risk and 25% believe there is no health risk attached to drinking alcohol.

We are not alone in our concern – thousands of members of the public including more than 20 organisations have signed our petition calling for greater government action. They agree that no one should have to suffer the devastating trauma of alcohol-related cancer.

The human toll is compounded by the economic burden. In 2016, Cancer Research UK estimated that alcohol-attributed cancers cost the NHS alone an estimated £100 million annually. With the health service under immense strain, it is imperative to act now and realise the government’s priority of prevention.

Despite alcohol being the sixth leading cause of preventable cancer in the UK, current policy does not reflect this reality. We urge the government to fulfil its responsibility to protect public health by introducing a National Alcohol Strategy for England without delay, which must include:

• Mandatory alcohol product labelling with health warnings, including information on cancer risks and calorie content.
• Marketing restrictions on alcohol by classifying it as an ‘unhealthy product’ under high fat, salt and sugar marketing restrictions.
• Implementing and evaluating minimum unit pricing at 65p in England with rates adjusted in line with inflation, to bring England into line with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who all either have MUP already or have stated their intention to implement.

It is vital that this strategy aligns with the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England, ensuring that alcohol is comprehensively addressed as a modifiable risk factor for cancer. We also urge the UK government to work in close collaboration with the devolved administrations, particularly to enable action to improve approaches to labelling and advertising. All policy development processes must be protected from industry influence and vested interests to ensure public health is placed above profit.

Such action would not only help to reduce cancer risks but reduce other alcohol-related harms. It would also support the government’s own ambitions to shift from sickness to prevention, as set out in the Health Mission, and contribute to economic growth by reducing illness-related inactivity.

We stand ready to support this effort and urge you to act now. Together we can tackle the devastating impact of both alcohol harm and cancer.

Yours sincerely,

Rachael Gormley, Chief Executive, World Cancer Research Fund

Dr Richard Piper, CEO, Alcohol Change UK

Alison Douglas, Chief Executive, Alcohol Focus Scotland

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair, Alcohol Health Alliance

Greg Fell, President, Association of Directors of Public Health

Dr Heather Grimbaldeston, Chair, BMA Public Health Medicine Committee, British Medical Association

Professor David Strain, Chair, BMA Board of Science, British Medical Association

Thalie Martini, Chief Executive Officer, Breast Cancer UK

Eddie Crouch, Chair, British Dental Association

Pamela Healy OBE, Chief Executive, British Liver Trust

Jill Clark, Chair, CancerWatch

Alison Wise, Communications Manager, on behalf of Fight Bladder Cancer

Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director, Fresh and Balance

Kostas Tsilidis, Associate Professor of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Imperial College London

Dr Katherine Severi, Chief Executive, Institute of Alcohol Studies

Dr Dominique Florin, Medical Director, Medical Council on Alcohol

Daniela Binnington Nessman, Founder, Menopause and Cancer

Gopika Chandratheva, Nutritionist, NHS

Tamara Khan, CEO, Oracle Head & Neck Cancer UK

Jon Coleman-Reed, Head of Operations, Prevent Breast Cancer

Dr Claire Shannon, President, Royal College of Anaesthetists

Robert Steele, Chair, Board Directors, Scottish Cancer Foundation

Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, Chair, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems

Chris Curtis, Chief Executive Officer, Swallows Head & Neck Cancer Support Charity

Amandine Garde, Professor of Law & Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, University of Liverpool

Richard Cooke, Professor of Health Psychology, University of Staffordshire

Dr Kathryn Scott, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Cancer Research