A national review of guidelines is needed to reassess the safety of alcohol consumption and to find better ways of getting the message about safe drinking levels across to the public, MPs have said.

MPs on the parliamentary science and technology committee published a report today questioning the effectiveness of current government guidelines on drinking and recommending that efforts to work with the drinks industry to encourage more sensible drinking should be assessed a year earlier than the government had planned.

The report calls for a UK-wide expert group to be formed to review current alcohol guidelines, the limits of which should not be eased, it says. The group should include external scientific and medical experts, civil servants, and representatives from the devolved administrations.

The expert group should review the evidence for the effects on health of alcohol, including risks and benefits, and the effectiveness of …