MSPs urged to unite behind minimum alcohol price plan

Published on Wednesday 9 June 2010 23:05

POLITICIANS have been urged to put party differences aside and back Scottish Government plans for a minimum price on alcohol.

The British Medical Association Scotland, Alcohol Focus Scotland and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems have sent a joint briefing paper to MSPs before a key vote.

Holyrood will debate the general principles of the Scottish Government's alcohol bill today.

Dr Brian Keighley, who chairs the BMA in Scotland, said: "It is estimated that one in 20 deaths in Scotland is attributable to alcohol. It is now our national duty to ensure that we do all we can to tackle this epidemic."

The Scottish Government has put forward measures aimed at tackling the country's drink problem in its Alcohol Bill but lacks the support to get it through Holyrood, with Labour, Lib Dems and Tories all opposing minimum alcohol pricing.

The Tories are set to force a vote on the minimum price issue during today's debate.

But Dr Keighley urged politicians from all parties to back the bill. "As we approach the first vote on this bill, we are urging MSPs to put aside party differences and vote for health by progressing this legislation to the next stage," he said.

"We believe that the measures outlined in this bill offer a way out of this national epidemic."

The joint briefing paper said minimum pricing is an "innovative measure", and points out that Scotland has one of the highest death rates from cirrhosis in western Europe, much higher than in England.

The groups argued that "decades of health promotion campaigns have tried to influence people into safe drinking practices with little effect".

Action to tackle alcohol must be taken at a nationwide level, rather than just focusing on those at most risk, they said.

The Reverend Ian Galloway, convener of the church and society council of the Church of Scotland, also wrote urging MSPs to back minimum pricing. "We live in a society in which the consequences of excessive drinking are shared by us all," he wrote.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon repeated her call to MSPs from all parties to back minimum pricing. "Some public health issues are so important that they must take precedence over party politics," she said.

"I believe tackling Scotland's unhealthy relationship with alcohol is one such issue."

Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: "Minimum pricing is looking dead in the water. It's been two years since the government proposed it, and in all that time they have failed to convince the parliament of its merits."