Cheapest bottle of wine to cost over £6 as booze prices soar
A BOTTLE of wine will not legally be sold in Scotland for less than £6.09 after MSPs yesterday voted to raise the minimum price of alcohol.
The minimum charge for a unit of alcohol will soar from 50p at present to 65p from the end of September after the rise was rubber-stamped at Holyrood.
The 30 per cent increase will put more pressure on family finances after shopping bills rocketed in recent years.
At present, a 12.5 per cent volume bottle of wine cannot be sold for less than £4.69 but this will rise by £1.40 to £6.09, while the lowest price of a standard bottle of blended whisky will soar from £14 to £18.20.
The change comes despite claims there is little evidence the policy, introduced in 2018, is working.
But ministers insisted minimum unit pricing (MUP) is helping to save lives.
After last night’s vote, Pete Cheema, chief executive of the Scottish Grocers Federation, said: ‘Increasing the cost of MUP now will only put more pressure on people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, the vast majority of whom drink sensibly and in moderation.
‘Inflation may have increased the cost of many goods, but most household budgets have not risen to match those extra costs.’
The Scotch Whisky Association said: ‘The efficacy of MUP as a policy to reduce harmful drinking has yet to be established.’ The increase means a single 500ml can of 4 per cent volume beer or lager will rise from £1 to £1.30. It will also apply to multipacks, meaning a 12-pack must cost at least £15.60.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘Increasing minimum unit pricing is the wrong way to tackle Scotland’s alcohol problem, which has escalated on the SNP’s watch.
‘Evidence shows MUP is not the silver bullet SNP ministers insisted it would be, given alcohol deaths are now at their highest level since 2008. MUP disproportionately punishes responsible drinkers.’
Alcohol Focus Scotland chief Alison Douglas said: ‘Uprating of the minimum unit price to 65p per unit will save hundreds of lives and reduce demand on our NHS.’
The Scottish Government highlighted Public Health Scotland research that MUP had cut alcohol-attributable deaths by 13.4 per cent, and was likely to have reduced hospital admissions wholly attributed to alcohol by 4.1 per cent.
Drugs and alcohol policy minister Christina McKelvie said: ‘We believe the proposals strike a reasonable balance between public health benefits and any effects on the alcoholic drinks market and impact on consumers.’
ONE definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But that’s precisely what the SNP Government is doing by ploughing ahead with a hike to the minimum unit price (MUP) on alcohol, from 50p to 65p.
A damning study last year found that, since MUP was introduced in May 2018, there has been no change in the proportion of people drinking to harmful levels.
The heaviest drinkers are the least likely to be deterred from buying alcohol when prices rise – a simple truth policy-makers appear to have overlooked, or ignored.
Meanwhile, middle-class Scots are being penalised once again for moderate consumption. It’s a high price to pay for more of the SNP’s nanny-state dogma.