Scotland to set 50p minimum unit price for alcohol
This would raise the price of the cheapest bottle of red wine (9.4 units of alcohol) to £4.69, a four-pack of 500ml cans of 4% lager (8 units) would cost at least £4
and a 70cl bottle of whisky (28 units of alcohol) could not be sold for less than £14.
However judges at the Supreme Court in London rejected this, saying
that minimum pricing was a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim” and would target “the health hazards of cheap alcohol and the groups most affected in a way that an increase in excise or VAT does not”.
Ms Robison said: “I am grateful to everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation on our proposed minimum price per unit of alcohol and I am happy to confirm
that we will be moving forward with our recommendation of 50 pence.
Opposition parties have raised some questions about aspects of the policy, with the Greens
and Lib Dems calling for a 60p minimum price and Labour saying the cash raised should be “clawed back” by the state rather than retailers.
Normal strength cider (5% ABV) would cost at least £2.50 a litre
but a super-strength version (7.5% ABV) would have to cost a minimum of £3.75 for a litre.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said a consultation had backed the planned 50p
unit price, which will go before MSPs at Holyrood before it comes into force.
The Scotch Whisky Association had pursued a lengthy legal challenge to the legislation, claiming
that an excise duty or tax would be an equally effective way of cutting problem drinking.
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