New alcohol law: the worst of all worlds

Political Blogger

Thursday 17 May 2012

So, after months and years of being nudged in the same direction, the Scots Parliament has come to an apparent consensus on how much it should cost to buy a unit of alcohol in Scotland.

We are told this will make a real difference to health outcomes in Scotland, and will change our "booze culture" for the better.

Hmmmm. Not so sure.

I'll put my cards on the table, I have a philosophical aversion to governments getting involved in more and more of our lives.

My weekly trip to Tesco, where I pick up a couple of bottles of vino plonko, is one area of life that - hitherto - has survived the attention of the man from the Ministry. I don't drink to excess, in fact I wouldn't expect many mandarins would be very impressed by stocks or turnover in my wine rack and bottle shelf. Yet now the Parliament wants to intervene in a way that is so contrary to our traditional liberal values, just to make sure I don't manage to sneak a bottle in my trolley for less than £4.70. Unbelievable. And, frankly, unbelievable that parties across the chamber seem to have fallen for it. A sunset clause was sufficient to swing the Tories round - resulting in them welcoming the legislation while celebrating the sunset clause - a confused message if ever there was one. Let's get this straight. The problem drinking is not my £4 bottle of wine from Tesco, it is the rocket fuel ciders that propel young people on to street corners late at night. It is the lax enforcement of licensing laws that sees some barman somewhere happily selling that last round of drinks to someone who had clearly had enough two rounds ago. The problem with the Health Secretary's approach is that it is failing to see the opportunity to tackle the problem of alcohol abuse through enforcement of current legislation, rather than inventing new law. Doing something new is not always the same as making a difference. And this debate has left two sectors hugely affected, and which the Parliament has now chosen to ignore. The prospect of a sunset clause will not help our crucial Scotch whisky industry as it tackles trade barriers and discrimination across the globe. Thousands of Scottish jobs will depend on our ability to master markets for our liquor industry in the far east markets that mean so much. Now, when barriers and excess tariffs are erected in our greatest industry's path, their legislators will point to our barriers and regulations back home. We'll be disadvantaged in some of those vital arguments and will lose jobs as a result. Secondly, who would have thought that the same SNP government that wanted to introduce a £30m tax on supermarkets "to force them to make a contribution to our health agenda", would now be backing a minimum pricing strategy that will put money in the pockets of Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons et al. For retailers will now be facing the scrutiny of the man from the ministry checking the price on each and every bottle, but will at least have the significant compensation of more profit margin on every bottle. This is the worst kind of legislation. It restrains commercial competition, limits individual freedom, hamstrings our businesses abroad and will penalise the ordinary responsible drinker just as much as those who could and should have been tackled in other ways. Not a good move, in my book, and made worse by the signs that the UK coalition look set to move in the same direction. That's a coalition, lest we forget, of Conservatives and Liberals. Blimey.

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New alcohol law: the worst of all worlds

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