MSPs set to reject law on alcohol pricing

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 22:04

LANDMARK legislation that would have introduced minimum prices for alcohol will not become law, after Labour revealed it would not support the move.

The decision will leave a gaping hole in the Alcohol Bill, which is being unveiled today by health secretary Nicola Sturgeon and is aimed at tackling Scotland's love affair with drink.

Labour will join the other main opposition parties in blocking the proposals and instead back a commission to consider a range of other measures to deal with over-consumption.

In an article in The Scotsman, a Labour health spokesman, Dr Richard Simpson, a former GP who had been sympathetic to minimum pricing, outlines why his party has decided not to support the SNP.

The decision means 78 of the 129 MSPs are now lined up to oppose minimum pricing. The Tories and Liberal Democrats have already made clear they will not back the move because of the possible effects on the whisky industry.

Measures included in the alcohol pricing legislation

The SNP had been expected to try to push through a 40p-a-unit minimum price and had hoped to make it the party's big-ticket public health achievement – the equivalent of the last Scottish Executive's smoking ban.

Instead, minimum pricing is the party's latest major initiative that will be consigned to the political dustbin. Local income tax was abandoned earlier this year because of a lack of cross-party support and the referendum bill is destined to fail next year for the same reason.

The SNP has dropped a series of pledges it made in its manifesto, including cutting P1 to P3 class sizes to 18, giving first-time house buyers 2,000, paying off student debt, providing free swimming for schoolchildren and matching the previous Executive's commitment to school building "brick for brick".

Richard Simpson: Minimum pricing is not the answer to our booze culture

In recent months, Labour has been holding an internal debate on minimum pricing, which has split the party's MSPs. Many saw the appointment of Jackie Baillie as health spokeswoman, replacing Cathy Jamieson, as a strong indication that Labour would oppose the proposal.

Ms Baillie has the Chivas distillery in her Dumbarton constituency, and Ms Jamieson was thought to favour minimum pricing.

In his Scotsman article today, Dr Simpson says the policy would help supermarkets at the expense of smaller stores and that the expected 40p-per-unit level would do nothing to tackle drinks such as Buckfast, which would not be affected even by a 60p-per-unit minimum price.

He also raised concerns about the unanswered questions on the legality of minimum pricing.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: "Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are promoting a scheme that will increase the profits of the supermarkets but won't provide a single penny for more police officers or alcohol treatment.

"The SNP's refusal to address fears about the competence of their proposals by sharing the substance of their legal advice also suggests that they are not interested in building a genuine consensus across the parliament.

"The challenge now is for us to come up with something better. That's why we have created a commission under the chairmanship of Professor Sally Brown (emeritus professor of education at Stirling University] to consider alternative pricing mechanisms that can be developed to tackle alcohol abuse."

Minimum pricing has been widely opposed by business organisations, who have made representations to the Scottish Government because of fears it will lead to job losses and foreign governments putting up import duties on Scotch whisky.

CBI Scotland, the Institute of Directors and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce have claimed the proposal is part of an anti-business agenda by the SNP, which they say has been articulated in recent speeches and comments by Ms Sturgeon.

The Scotch Whisky Association welcomed Labour's stance. A spokesman said: "We are delighted that opposition parties have recognised the damage that minimum pricing would do and we look forward to helping to build a consensus on how to deal with alcohol misuse in Scotland."

The SNP has accused Labour of being closed to the arguments before the bill is even launched.

They also point out that the Scottish Liberal Democrats are at odds with their colleagues at Westminster, who support the proposal. Last night, the Dunfermline and Fife West Lib Dem MP Willie Rennie hosted a reception to back the idea.

Yesterday, the Scottish Government cited support from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh for minimum pricing. Its president, Professor Sir Neil Douglas, said such a move would be "a historic step to reverse the scourge of alcohol-related harm and demonstrate that, as with smoking, Scotland can be a leader in effective public health policy".

The SNP MSP Dr Ian McKee, a former GP and member of Holyrood's health committee, said: "When so many public health, crime, justice and alcohol industry representatives know the benefits minimum pricing will bring, it would be a disgraceful decision for any party to reject this bill before they have heard the evidence.

"All of the UK's chief medical officers, Scotland's police chiefs, the BMA, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Royal College of Physicians, the Episcopal Church and members of the alcohol trade support minimum pricing."