Minimum alcohol pricing averted

An alcohol bill to ban promotions such as "3 for 2" on alcohol sales and implement tougher restrictions on age verifications at off licences was passed unanimously by MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.

It will not affect minimum pricing or implement a rise of the legal drinking age as first suggested by the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am disappointed that the legislation we have passed today is not as strong as we would have liked or as it could have been."

Sturgeon referred to the failure of the proposal for minimum price, voted down by the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative MSPs.

"It has, undoubtedly, been diluted through the absence of minimum pricing, which would save lives and reduce crime.

“However, we should not lose sight of what has been achieved. We have had a wide-ranging debate on alcohol pricing and there is now widespread recognition across the country of the need to tackle pricing – though, sadly, support was lacking in parliament today”, she said.

Opposition parties argued against minimum pricing with Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie stating that it had been “rightly rejected because it is effectively a tax on the poor that would put over £140 million into the pockets of the major brewers and the big supermarkets”.

Mr Brown, MSP candidate for Liberton and Gilmerton, commented: "Minimum pricing would have led to increased shoplifting and activity by organised crime gangs to meet the new demand for black market, low-priced alcohol."

Even though minimum pricing has not been approved, the fight to stop binge drinking in Scotland have led to all possible measures being discussed.

Murdo Fraser, Conservative health spokesperson, stated: “The challenge is for all parties to come together and find real, practical solutions to tackle Scotland’s drink problem.”