WESTMINSTER will stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Holyrood in fending off challenges to the Scottish Government's bid to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol.
Lord Wallace, the UK Government's Advocate General and former Deputy First Minister, makes clear today he and his colleagues will support the Scottish Government when its minimum alcohol pricing legislation is challenged in the Court of Session in October.
Tomorrow, the Liberal Democrat peer will tell a legal conference in Edinburgh: "I am sure we are all conscious of the great problems that alcohol causes for countless people in Scotland every year.
"In light of this, my party supported the Scottish Government's proposals for the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol and indeed the UK Government will shortly be consulting on the introduction of minimum pricing in England and Wales."
He will explain how the proposal for south of the Border has the backing of the Royal College of Physicians and the Association of Chief Police Officers; it could mean 50,000 fewer crimes and around 900 fewer alcohol-related deaths per year in England and Wales by the end of this decade.
However, drinks bodies, including the Scotch Whisky Association, are challenging the Scottish Parliament's legislation in the courts. Plus, the European Commission is considering whether it is compatible with EU law on free trade.
"It would be open to the UK Government to sit on the sidelines, and watch while the Scottish Government seeks to fend off these challenges, but we will not do that," Lord Wallace will insist.
"When the case is first heard in the Court of Session later this month, the UK Government will be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Scottish Government, seeking to support and complement the arguments they present and, in particular, ensure the court has the benefit of the UK Government's experience and expertise in EU law."
He will add: "Both governments want Scotland to be a healthier and safer place and so both governments will act together in seeking to ensure minimum pricing can proceed."
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 hereComments are closed on this article