An influential cross party committee of MPs has recommended the UK Government follow the Scottish Government’s lead and adopt a minimum price for alcohol in a major new report.
The House of Commons Health Select Committee acknowledged the crippling effect of alcohol on society and said that imposing a minimum price could save up to 3000 lives a year. The report "flatly rejects as a myth" the suggestion that minimum pricing would unfairly affect moderate drinkers.
The Committee is made up of six Labour MPs, three Conservatives and a Liberal Democrat alongside one Independent member.
Releasing the report, Committee Chair and senior Labour MP, Rt Hon Kevin Barron said: "The facts about alcohol misuse are shocking. Successive governments have failed to tackle the problem and it is now time for bold government."
The recommendation was welcomed by the SNP’s Westminster candidate for Glasgow Central, Osama Saeed, who called on MSPs currently opposing similar measures in the Scottish Government’s Alcohol Bill to follow the lead of their UK counterparts and back this crucial legislation.
“The problem is even more pressing in Scotland than England if we look just at the figures on alcohol related deaths. Having a minimum price on alcohol is obvious for anyone looking at the problems it is causing in our communities. Alcohol has become cheaper over the years and action is needed,” commented Saeed.
He continued: “It is also backed by evidence as seen from this Westminster report. I hope their Labour colleagues in Holyrood will take note and drop their strange opposition to the SNP’s proposals.
“Scotland’s public health should come before party politics. The 3,000 deaths, 42,000 hospital stays, and 110,000 GP visits linked to alcohol annually are causing misery for families and communities, burdening our public services and sapping Scotland's economic potential. Minimum pricing of alcohol is a workable and evidence based approach to tackling this huge problem.”
SNP Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon MSP added:
"Minimum pricing won't raise the price of all drinks - it targets the dirt-cheap supermarket ciders, lagers and low-grade spirits favoured by problem drinkers. By contrast, the responsibly priced products favoured by the majority will be almost completely untouched."
"European parliamentary answers have made clear that the European Commission does not object to minimum pricing for alcohol as long as it is proportionate and has clear benefits for public health."
"Robust, independent research has shown that minimum pricing could save lives, cut illness and crime and reduce the massive burden alcohol misuse places on public services.
"It is notable that this report holds Scotland up as an example to be emulated. It shows that we have not been afraid to be at the vanguard of public health policy before - and we can be again."
[ENDS]
Notes
1. The Scottish Government’s minimum pricing proposals are also supported by all four UK Chief Medical Officers, the British Medical Association, the Royal Colleges of Nursing, Physicians, Surgeons and GPs, Faculty of Public Health, British Liver Trust, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and two former Labour Scottish Health Ministers. Click here for more information.
2. For more information on mimumum pricing, see the Scottish Government website
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