HEALTH CALL TO CRANK UP BOOZE PRICES
MSPs urged to vote for 65p minimum cost
HEALTH campaigners are urging MSPs to back a hike in the cost of booze.
The Scottish Government last month stated its intention to raise the minimum unit price (MUP) of alcohol to 65p.
Now campaigners and charities have signed a joint letter to Holyrood’s Health Committee as it drafts regulations to renew what was a flagship SNP policy.
MSPs must vote by the end of April to pass the regulations otherwise the policy will end.
If voted through, a 12-pack of 500ml Tennent’s Lager will rise from a minimum of £12 to £15.60 and a 70cl bottle of Famous Grouse will go up to £18.20 from a £14 minimum.
Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus
Scotland, which coordinated the letter, said: “We have been delighted to see support from such a diverse range of organisations across the whole of Scotland and beyond.
“Most of us know someone, or perhaps several people, whose lives have been blighted by their own drinking.
“Minimum pricing has resulted in tangible benefits to Scotland’s health and wellbeing. Hundreds of lives have been saved and it has helped reduce the burden on our NHS through significantly reducing hospital admissions at a time of major strain for the health service.”
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, chair of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems added: “This reflects the clear understanding that MUP not only needs to continue but to set it a rate any less than 65p would result in lives concentrated in our poorest communities being unnecessarily lost.”
Minimum unit pricing was fiercely opposed by the whisky industry when it was first announced in 2012.
A series of legal challenges delayed the introduction until 2018, when the unit price was set at 50p.