It’s the great cross-Border booze bonanza
Fill yer boots, the saying goes, and they did, literally – as Scots f locked to England in their cars to buy cheap drink and thumb their noses at SNP’s new minimum pricing
Scottish shoppers are beating the new minimum alcohol pricing laws by travelling in droves south of the Border.
Just days after the controversial new rules were introduced, we witnessed bulk-buying and even organised ‘booze cruises’ at supermarkets in Carlisle and Berwick – both around ten minutes outside Scotland.
Scots filled their trollies with crates of wine, beer and cider, as well as bottles of premium spirits in a bid to capitalise on the dramatic savings now available.
Some shoppers claimed to have saved up to £250 on their Bank Holiday weekend drinks bill, while staff at one Asda store reported daily alcohol sales were up by almost £10,000.
Scotland is the first country in the world to set a minimum unit price for alcohol, in an attempt to curb the nation’s drinking problem.
But critics last night questioned the potential impact of the new law – which prohibits Scottish shops from selling alcohol for less than 50p per unit – if it can be so easily evaded.
Tory MP John Lamont said: ‘Clearly the intention of the new law is to address the issue of the unhealthy relationship some people have with alcohol.
‘But we must be aware of the potential, unintended consequences of it, and we must look into if there is a cross-Border effect which actually completely circumvents the point of the new rule.
‘It’s not surprising this is happening, given the relative cheapness now of alcohol in the supermarkets over the Border, which are located very close to many people in the south of Scotland.’
Concerns have also been raised about the potential impact on Scottish businesses if buyers vote with their wallets and shop in England.
Mr Lamont, who represents Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, added: ‘The Scottish Government must look closely at how this is affecting cross-Border activities, and how it is therefore impacting on Scottish traders, too.’
The Scotch Whisky Association said there needs to be an ‘objective, independent and robust assessment’ of the impact of minimum alcohol pricing, ‘including assessing the impact on trade’. The 50p minimum unit pricing leg-is-SHREWD lation came into force on Tuesday after Ministers won a lengthy legal battle. Legislation was approved at Holyrood in 2012, but only cleared legal challenges in the Supreme Court in November 2017. A 70cl bottle of 40 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume) whisky – 28 units – now costs a minimum of £14, while an equivalent bottle of vodka, although not quite as strong at 37.5 per cent ABV, is at least £13.13.
A 440ml can of lager (4 per cent ABV) is now a minimum of 88p.
Pubs, clubs and restaurants are unlikely to be affected by the law as they would not sell a pint of lager for less than £1.14 or a large glass of wine for less than £1.50.
Our reporters spoke to shoppers leaving Morrisons and Asda stores in Carlisle and Berwick on Friday night and yesterday afternoon.
Some had travelled from as far afield as Fife and Linlithgow. At Morrisons on the outskirts of Berwick, Ali Barclay, 28, a childcare worker from Musselburgh, said: ‘We came down for a meeting in Allanton, just across the Border, in a minibus and realised we could just nip across to England to buy some cheap alcohol.
‘My colleagues and I are in charge of organising a work function and had a budget of about £500 for the buffet and the drink for 55 people.
‘We reckon we’ve saved about £260 on alcohol by coming here instead of buying it in Scotland.’
David Laird, 75, from Dunbar said:
‘Only 20 miles down the road and we can get our other shopping Folk will come here when stocking up for a party – it’s a no-brainer
‘We are pensioners and it makes a big difference coming over the Border. I think on the wine alone we probably saved about £20. It’s well worth the fuel.’
David Hogarth, 62, from Kelso, said: ‘It’s only 20 miles down the road and we can get our other shopping at the same time.
‘I’m probably saving about a fiver on a bottle of whisky. I know folk that will just come down here when they’re having a party and they need to stock up, it’s a no-brainer.’
At the Tweedmouth Asda, Paul Ford, 43, and Lynda Barrie, 36, said they were on a ‘booze cruise’ from Coldstream, just across the Border.
Mr Ford said: ‘We would never normally drive over here on a Friday night but it just makes sense. We’ve got the luxury of playing the system.’
Meanwhile in Carlisle, staff at one Asda store told the MoS alcohol sales had rocketed by £9,000 in just 24 hours.
William Fox, 48, from Leven, Fife, was delighted to pay £10 for a box of 18 cans of Strongbow cider at Asda – half what it would have cost him in Scotland.
He said: ‘I know one man who works in England during the week and is now taking orders from friends and neighbours for when he comes home at the weekends.’ Jim White, from Annan in Dumfriesshire, who was filling the boot of his van with crates of beer, said: ‘Scotland is becoming a nanny state.
‘The Scottish Government is trying to control what we do, what we eat and now what we drink.
‘They’re taxing everything that’s enjoyable and it’s only a matter of time before they put a tax on the air we breathe.’
Entrepreneurial Berwick taxi driver Steve Wood, 34, revealed he is cashing in on the rush to buy cheaper alcohol in England. He said: ‘It’s crazy the amount of people that have called from Scotland, asking me to take them to the supermarkets over the Border.
‘I had three or four in just one night, asking for the big car to take all of their shopping.
‘I’ve just bought a 16-seater minibus and I’m just waiting for this all to kick off. I’m calling it Woody’s Berwick Booze Cruise.
‘I think a big part of business will be for the local holiday parks.’
A spokesman for Morrisons said: ‘It’s for customers to decide how they respond and we’ll serve them within the respective law.’
An Asda spokesman said: ‘We’ll be complying fully with minimum unit pricing.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘Given the clear and proven link between consumption and harm, minimum unit pricing is the most effective and efficient way to tackle the cheap, high-strength alcohol that causes so much damage to so many families.
‘We will closely monitor the impacts with NHS Health Scotland, leading on a monitoring and evaluation. That involves an extensive portfolio of research examining a number of areas, including cross-Border sales.’
We have saved about £260 on alcohol by coming here
Scotland is becoming a nanny state... they will tax everything