Legislation which it is claimed would have effectively outlawed billboard advertisements for alcohol has been rejected by MSPs.
Labour MSP Dr Richard Simpson had put forward a series of measures aimed at tackling Scotland's "problematic relationship" with drink in a member's bill
His Alcohol (Licensing, Public Health and Criminal Justice) (Scotland) Bill, which would have banned billboard adverts for alcohol from within 200 metres of a school, was rejected by 36 votes to 59, with 12 abstentions.
Dr Simpson told MSPs that "within the limited powers we actually have to ban this within 200 metres of schools would mean effectively we were banning billboard advertising in Scotland".
This, he argued, would be a "small step towards de-normalising alcohol".
Public Health Minister Maureen Watt said ministers had set up an expert group to look at alcohol advertising and sponsorship, which could lead to measures being included in the next phase of the Government's framework for tackling alcohol.
"We welcome the intent behind the advertising measures behind the Bill," she said.
Ms Watt insisted the Scottish Government had a "track record" in tackling Scotland's drink problem through measures such as ending mutli-buy deals and cutting the drink driving limit.
But she accepted there was still "some way to go", and added: "As part of that we will be looking at some of the measures in this Bill, how they might be developed or adapted and potentially incorporated within the next phase of the alcohol framework."
Dr Simpson said he was "very disappointed" the Government had failed to support his Bill, which would have brought in further restrictions on the selling and advertising of alcohol.
"Frankly the message is clear that this government is not in a hurry to act," he said.
Dr Simpson's Bill had included regulations on the price of multipacks, ending the situation where cans of beer or cider are cheaper in packs of 12 or 18 than they are individually or in four packs.
Other measures would have introduced a limit on the amount of caffeine allowed in pre-mixed alcoholic drinks, while bottle tagging would have been brought in in some areas as one way of dealing with underage drinking.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel