Letter: Minimum pricing target falls short

ONCE again we have claims of "clear evidence" of minimum pricing reducing alcohol consumption (Letters, June 6). As with Nicola Sturgeon's "research has shown" argument, no details are offered.

A BMA spokesman earlier farcically claimed a minimum price of 45p would save a precise number of lives. An alternative of 50p was suggested, based on no facts at all. The priority should be immediate success, and anything less than 1 per unit would be futile, in my view.

Government has no right to interfere in pricing of any article sold, other than by taxation, and the plain truth is that Budget tax increases on alcohol, as with tobacco and petrol, are always carefully limited to levels unlikely to reduce consumption and the revenue this provides.

Robert Dow, Tranent