Peers back minimum price per alcohol unit if Scotland scheme works

[Northerner]

Minimum unit pricing for alcohol should be introduced across the UK if it proves a success in Scotland, a Lords committee has said.

If the decision to introduce a 50p base rate per unit of alcohol is shown to reduce excessive drinking, it should to be rolled out nationwide, the Lords select committee on the Licensing Act 2003 said.

The plan means a 70cl bottle of whisky would cost a minimum of £14.

In December, the Scotch Whisky Association said it would appeal to the UK supreme court against a Scottish court ruling that plans for a 50p minimum price were compatible with EU law.

https://www.theguardian.com/society...ice-per-alcohol-unit-if-scotland-scheme-works

 

[mikeyB]

Yes, this has been causing a lot of discussion in Scotland. There is a surprising amount of public support for this. However, the majority of problem drinkers in the U.K. are the middle and upper classes who can well afford this increase. It might well reduce the strong cider drinkers who litter our city streets, though. And the Buckie drinkers in Glasgae.

The main thing that will disappear is the loss leading offers - 16 cans of Stella for a tenner, litres of spirits for £12.50. It will simply be illegal, and that can only be a good thing.

This I not, as I heard on the telly this morning, an unpopular tax like the poll tax that was first introduced in Scotland by the Thatcher government, but is an entirely Scottish initiative.