Time has come for minimum pricing

The Scottish National Party have welcomed the intervention by a senior Liberal Democrat MP and Front Bencher at Westminster, in which he fully supports minimum pricing of alcohol.  

Speaking at a “Business in Sport and Leisure” conference in London (reported in The Publican on 12 November) Don Foster, the Lib Dems’ shadow culture spokesperson, said: “I truly believe the time has now come to be looking at a scheme for minimum pricing.”  This directly contradicts the stance of the Liberal Democrat leadership in the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Foster’s comments echo remarks by the Liberals’ Westminster business spokesperson, Lorely Burt, who branded cheap supermarket booze the “biggest problem” and “reiterated” her party’s support for minimum pricing.

In October last year, the UK Lib Dems produced a report on the UK's relationship with alcohol which called for minimum pricing to be introduced.

Welcoming Don Foster’s intervention, SNP MSP and member of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee, Michael Matheson, has invited Mr Foster to meet with MSPs – including his own Lib Dem colleagues – in order to explain the importance of minimum pricing in tackling alcohol misuse.

Mr Matheson said:

“Don Foster is right to speak out in support of minimum pricing, which is an evidence-led and targeted policy to tackle alcohol misuse.

“The coalition in support of minimum pricing is broad and growing – the police, health professionals, the licensed trade, the British Liver Trust, and the four Chief Medical Officers across the UK.

“Regrettably, the Lib Dems in Scotland are on the outside of this process, which is one reason why I have invited Don Foster to visit Holyrood to discuss the issue with MSPs across the parties, including his own.

“The scale of Scotland’s alcohol misuse problem is shocking: 42,500 alcohol-related hospital discharges; 1,500 deaths per year; soaring rates of liver cirrhosis; the eighth highest consumption in the world; and a £2.25 billion annual cost in public services and lost productivity.

“Don Foster has clearly followed the debate in some detail, and I believe that those MSPs in the Scottish Parliament who are not yet persuaded of the case for minimum pricing would benefit from hearing his advice.”

Notes: 

1. Full details can be found on Mr Foster’s remarks can be found here:

http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=65711&c=1

2. Today’s comments by Lorely Burt, LibDem shadow business spokesperson, can be read here:

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/84506

3. Nick Clegg: 'It is unacceptable for retailers, especially big supermarkets, to run a coach and horses through alcohol duties in order to sell alcohol well below its cost.   The immediate effect of below-cost alcohol is to tempt people to buy a lot more alcohol than would otherwise be the case.   As a rule, I don’t believe governments should set prices, but when retailers are deliberately distorting the market we need to take action. [Daily Mail 26th September 2008]

4. Minimum Pricing is backed by, among others, the 4 UK Chief Medical Officers, the BMA, the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association and the World Health Organisation.