Bottle of whisky no less than £14 under Scottish Government's pricing laws

The Scottish Government has announced it wants to set a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol.

The measure is predicted to save 500 lives a year and will see the price of a standard bottle of wine at 12.5% volume set at a minimum of £4.69.

A 70cl bottle of whisky at 40% will cost no less than £14, while a similar sized bottle of vodka at 37.5% will be no less than £13.13. A bottle of strong cider at 5.3% will cost no less than £4.67.

The preferred floor price was set out by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon as part of legislation expected to be passed at Holyrood next week.

Speaking during a visit to Glasgow Royal Infirmary she said: "Cheap alcohol comes at a price and now is the time to tackle the toll that Scotland's unhealthy relationship with alcohol is taking on our society.

"Too many Scots are drinking themselves to death. The problem affects people of all walks of life.

"It's no coincidence that as affordability has increased, alcohol-related hospital admissions have quadrupled, and it is shocking that half of our prisoners now say they were drunk when they committed the offence. It's time for this to stop.

"Introducing a minimum price per unit will enable us to tackle these problems, given the clear link between affordability and consumption.

"There is now a groundswell of support for the policy across the medical profession, police forces, alcohol charities and from significant parts of the drinks and licensed trade industry who recognise the benefits minimum pricing can bring - saving lives and reducing crime."

The Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill is making its second passage through the Scottish Parliament after defeat in 2010 when the SNP was in a minority administration.

Labour is the only party not to have supported the revised legislation when it was debated at the first stage in March this year.

Earlier this month, MSPs agreed to a "sunset clause" meaning the law could be scrapped in six years if the policy does not work.

MSPs have previously banned discount deals such as two-for-one on bottles of wine, restricted "irresponsible" drinks promotions and advertising around premises, and set a requirement for age verification.

The proposed minimum price first time round was 45p per unit.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Since 45p was first proposed as the minimum price 18 months ago, we have seen inflation of around 5%. A minimum price of 50p takes this into account and will achieve a similar level of public health benefits to what 45p would have achieved in 2010."

She rejected concerns that the policy could fall foul of European competition laws.

She said: "This policy is capable of complying with European law. Alcohol minimum pricing is not, per se, illegal in terms of European law but we need to take care, and we have taken care, on where we set the price to ensure that we deliver the health benefits that will justify that policy, and I believe we can do that."

She has also not ruled out using a social responsibility levy to claw back some of the profits supermarkets are predicted to make.

The policy is widely supported by police and health professionals.

Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said: "The trend for cheap alcohol and excessive consumption has a human cost. Alcohol-related illness causes one death every three hours in Scotland and the total healthcare costs are more than £268 million.

"This increasing cost could cripple the NHS with a financial burden that is no longer sustainable, especially in the current financial climate."

But critics say the policy is regressive, targets the poor and will hand supermarkets a windfall in profits.

Sam Bowman, head of research at economic thinktank the Adam Smith Institute, branded the scheme "a miserable, Victorian-era measure that explicitly targets the poor and the frugal, leaving the more expensive drinks of the middle classes untouched".

He said: "Hysteria about drinking alcohol is a red herring invented by the health lobby. Health fascism is back with a vengeance and minimum alcohol pricing is just another brick in the wall."

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