Holyrood rejection of minimum alcohol pricing 'a lost opportunity'
The Scottish Government has failed to get its flagship policy of alcohol minimum pricing through parliament
- By David Clegg, political reporter
- Published in the Courier : 11.11.10
- Published online : 11.11.10 @ 12.12pm
Holyrood agreed several new measures to crack down on problem drinkers, but stopped short of passing the controversial move that has won widespread backing from the medical community.
On Wednesday SNP MSPs across Tayside and Fife accused Labour of "playing party politics" with the nation's health by voting against the proposal.
Legislation to clamp down on irresponsible drinks promotions did receive backing, as did measures to see a "social responsibility levy" imposed on landlords to tackle problem drinking.
But health secretary Nicola Sturgeon's proposal for a minimum price of 45p per unit of alcohol was rejected.
In a passionate last-ditch attempt to convince Labour to vote for the move, she asked them to show "the guts and leadership" to make a change that would "save lives."
"Labour gave the game away when they announced their opposition on the very day the bill was published, before a single word of evidence had been taken," she said.
"Everything since has been a desperate attempt to cover up what is nothing more than crude party politicking at the expense of the national interest. The truth is that, for Labour, this policy only has one fatal flaw — it is proposed by the SNP."
The minimum pricing amendment was knocked back by 76 votes to 49, with former health minister Malcolm Chisholm being the only Labour MSP to support the government move.
Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie defended her party's position.
She said, "It is regrettable that the Scottish Government's obsessive focus on minimum unit pricing prevented them from considering the evidence on other measures, such as the need to deal with problem drinks like caffeinated alcohol.
"The SNP are only in favour of consensus when they propose the policy.
"Minimum unit pricing was rightly rejected by MSPs because it is effectively a tax on the poor that would put over £140 million into the pockets of the major brewers and the big supermarkets.
"The SNP consistently failed to address these legitimate concerns and instead accused their opponents of party politicking at every turn."
Policy "dead in the water"
Tory health spokesman Murdo Fraser also attacked the government.
He said, "The SNP's indiscriminate blanket minimum pricing is now completely dead in the water, having been defeated for a third time.
"The challenge is for all parties to come together and find real, practical solutions to tackle Scotland's drink problem.
"There is no 'silver bullet' to cure Scotland's over-consumption of alcohol and the most pressing need is a change of culture."
The bill passed does ban multiple discounts on drink, such as "three for two" offers, meaning it won't be possible to sell, for example, six bottles of wine for less than six times the price of one.
Alcohol promotions in off-sales will be restricted and loyalty cards offering free alcohol or discounts for repeat purchases will be outlawed.
But a move to ban club points for alcohol purchases on supermarket club cards was rejected.
The legislation gives legal backing to retailers who want to demand ID from customers who look younger than 25.
But the government dropped its plans for a ban on anyone under 21 buying drink from an off-licence.
Welcoming the bill, Lib Dem health spokesman Ross Finnie said, "Scotland's relationship with alcohol must change. This bill is one step on the road to that change.
"The SNP have failed to make the case for minimum pricing, which is why Liberal Democrats voted against it."
Drink firms back rejection
But Dr Bruce Ritson, chairman of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, said the vote was "very sad."
"We have lost an opportunity to make significant improvements in the health and welfare of the population, particularly those living in the most deprived areas," he said.
Dundee East MSP Joe FitzPatrick reiterated the measure had gained the support of the medical profession and would have made a "huge difference."
"Despite this Labour did not want to see the SNP Government get credit for dealing effectively with chronic alcohol misuse, which has been allowed to get worse while previous governments failed to act," he said.
"Labour have failed to come up with any other proposal to effectively deal with the alcohol problem."
Central Fife MSP Tricia Marwick said she was "appalled" by the vote.
She said, "The SNP Government recognised that action is required on alcohol misuse and the introduction of minimum pricing was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference to the nation's health.
"It is very disappointing that opposition Fife MSPs did not share this view and I know their constituents will not forgive them for this betrayal."
However, the rejection of minimum pricing did receive backing from drink firms.
Simon Litherland, managing director of Diageo, which has a base in Fife, said, "As we have previously stated, we firmly believed minimum pricing was not an effective solution in tackling alcohol misuse.
"The debate has clearly moved on and now we can look forward to working collectively with other stakeholders in Scotland and the UK to support targeted interventions which can make a real difference to dealing with the problem of alcohol misuse."
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