Introduced by Lord Mitchell (Lab), the main purpose of the Bill is to promote safer drinking. The British “binge drinking culture” has long been a thorn in the UK’s side along with drink driving. 

The Bill discusses not only the application of warnings on alcoholic beverages but also the size and appearance of the warnings. The Bill makes the producer of the alcoholic beverage responsible for ensuring that each container carries on its brand label. 

The Bill will be enforced in England and Wales by a weights and measures authority; in Scotland by a local weights and measures authority and in Northern Ireland by a district council.

During second reading in the Lords, Lord Mitchell was at pains to point out that his Bill merely provided a warning about alcohol (as opposed to forcing people into a course of action) and that concerns about costs associated with introducing the warning by the alcohol industry look "a little thin when it already meets identical costs in other countries where labelling is compulsory".

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB) supported the Bill. She stated: "The Bill takes an important step towards tackling the increasing problem of the effect of alcohol on the foetus, and I hope that it might have a secondary effect on drink driving and other areas of life. It is when babies’ brains are developing that they are damaged by booze abuse. Let us not forget the cost to society and the cost to the child, and I hope the Minister will remember the cost to health and social services in the care these children require, as well as the cost to education departments in meeting their specific learning needs."

Lord Monson (CB) objected to the Bill on two fronts: firstly, he stated that there was "no empirical evidence that for the great majority, taking alcohol in moderation...during pregnancy harms the unborn child" and he also objected to how unsightly labels for Château Lafite would look with warnings "plastered all over them".

Baroness Neuberger, the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, welcomed the Bill but claimed that ti did not go far enough. Neuberger explained: "a voluntary labelling system, however admirable, is not enough. The Minister for Public Health in another place is on record as saying that warning labels for alcohol will be voluntary initially, but if the drinks industry ignores them, the Government will considering legislating. That is absurd. We are asking for labelling that is not punitive but informative. The industry should not be allowed to resist precisely because so many women are ignorant of the possible effects of alcohol on the unborn child, and the duty to inform on the bottle or the can should be comparable with what is done on cigarette and tobacco packets."

Earl Howe, the Conservative health spokesman, welcomed the Bill but raised two minor concerns: "do we need a piece of legislation to do this, as opposed to a voluntary agreement with the drinks industry; and secondly, what exactly should the label say."

Health minister Lord Hunt of Kings Heath supported the Bill. "It is clearly important that labelling is used as a strong component in a preventive approach. We are committed to action on labelling, as was laid out in the Government’s alcohol harm reduction strategy, which was published in 2004. We know that the public support labelling."

Hunt also promised to report on Department of Health talks with the industry "very soon".