Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie has condemned the SNP for announcing
a minimum price of 45p per unit, which would put over £140 million in
the pockets of the big supermarkets without creating a single extra
penny for more police or the NHS.

Shadow Health Secretary Jackie Baillie said:

“The SNP have got this one badly wrong. A minimum price of 45p per
unit will make no difference to the cost of problem drinks, like
Buckfast, but it will punish pensioners and people on low incomes.

“According to the Scottish Government’s own study, a minimum price of
45p per unit will deliver over £140 million of extra revenue for
retailers. But it won’t create a single extra penny for more police or
the NHS.

“Minimum unit pricing is effectively a tax on the poor paid directly
to the shareholders of the big supermarkets. This is why the
independent Alcohol Commission recommended that duty should be the
main lever for increasing prices and reducing harm.

“The health lobby will also be privately disappointed because they
were looking for a much bigger increase of at least 50p per unit. The
SNP delayed this announcement for months and now it is finally here it
will please nobody.”

2 September 2010