45p-per-unit drink prices are attacked as a tax on the poor

Published on Thursday 2 September 2010 15:23

PLANS to impose a 45p a unit minimum alcoholic drink price would be a "tax on the poor" and cost customers hundreds of millions of pounds, it has been claimed.

• Drink shame: debauchery and drunkenness in Gin Lane, after a 1751 original engraving by William Hogarth. Picture: Getty Images

The SNP Government's flagship proposal was attacked by opposition politicians, drink industry bodies and supermarket giants which claimed the move would harm trade without tackling alcohol abuse.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that it was currently possible to drink harmful levels of alcohol for less than 3.50, which she described as "pocket money prices".

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government had opted for a 45p unit price as it had calculated that setting it at that level would reduce harmful drinking.

The minister claimed that the policy would reduce Scotland's alcohol-linked death toll by as much as 50 a year, as well as leading to 1,200 fewer drink-related hospital admissions and a 5.5 million reduction in health care costs.

She said: "This policy will very quickly make very big inroads into the big problem Scotland has with alcohol."

Opposition parties warned that low-income households would be hit hard by the 45p price, which would take cash from the poor and hand it to wealthy supermarket chains.

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Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: "The SNP has got this one badly wrong. Minimum unit pricing is effectively a tax on the poor paid directly to the shareholders of the big supermarkets."

Scottish Tory health spokesman Murdo Fraser claimed that supermarkets would be "jumping up and down with glee at the tens of millions of pounds of extra profits they would stand to make as ordinary people are forced to pay more for a bottle of wine or Scotch".

Robert Brown, the justice spokesman for the Lib Dems, accused the SNP of taking "a very narrow view of the whole process" and called for a UK-wide pricing policy to tackle alcohol abuse.

Meanwhile, figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), said that the 45p per unit plan would cost consumers an extra 236 million a year.

The body also claimed that under minimum pricing alcohol consumption levels among harmful drinkers would be reduced by only 2.7 units a week - less than one pint of continental lager.

Benjamin Williamson, senior economist at the CEBR, said: "It would not target problem drinkers and could have a genuine negative economic impact in terms of jobs, trade and costs to the consumer.

"There is no credible evidence demonstrating potential benefits from the introduction of minimum pricing, including at a 45p per unit level."

Representatives of the alcohol industry also blasted the minimum price, which they claimed would "punish" those on low incomes, and harm businesses.Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Gavin Hewitt claimed the measure failed to meet European Union law and would "significantly damage Scotch whisky at home and abroad".

Wine and Spirit Trade Association spokesman Gavin Partington said: "Setting a minimum price at 45p doesn't alter the fact that minimum pricing is wrong in principle.

"It won't tackle alcohol misuse but will punish families on low incomes and pensioners."

However, Scotland's chief medical officer Harry Burns compared the 45p minimum pricing policy to the smoking ban in licensed premises and restaurants brought in by the last Labour government at Holyrood.

Dr Burns said: "The medical profession is united on this and in a way it's reminiscent of the smoking ban."

Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the BMA in Scotland, argued that a minimum price would have "an immediate effect in tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland". He hit out at the "ridiculously cheap" price of some drinks and said: "This trend for cheap alcohol and excessive consumption has a human cost."

Supermarket giants also added their voice to the opposition to the plans.

A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "We believe that introducing a minimum price for alcohol would unfairly penalise our shoppers, the vast majority of whom buy alcohol as part of their weekly shop and drink responsibly in their own homes."

Richard Taylor, director of corporate affairs at Morrisons, said: "Morrisons does not support a minimum unit price which would only serve to punish our customers in Scotland - the vast majority of whom drink responsibly."

An Asda spokeswoman said: "We don't support the Scottish Government's proposals."

However, the health secretary robustly defended the 45p minimum price level, which she said would not harm low income people, who tend "not to drink at all or drink very little".

Ms Sturgeon went on to claim that the policy would benefit businesses such as "small corner shops" by putting them on a "level playing field" with supermarket chains.

She said she would table an amendment on the 45p proposal to the alcohol bill when stage two comes before the parliament's health committee on either 15 or 22 September. A final vote is expected to be held in October or November.

The minimum pricing plans were blocked at the previous stage by MSPs, with Labour and the Tories voting against and the Lib Dems abstaining.

Ms Sturgeon has also said she would back a "sunset clause" - which would allow a test of minimum prices to see if the measure reduces excessive drinking.

Yesterday's declaration left us more convinced than ever that, though conceived for the right reasons, this policy is wrong. Page 32