Labour contenders vow to oppose alcohol pricing plan

Group Political Editor

Monday 31 October 2011

THE three candidates vying for the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party have said they will continue to oppose the SNP's flagship policy on alcohol pricing but have admitted they can do nothing to stop it being approved by the Scottish Parliament.

POINTING THE WAY: Leadership candidates Johann Lamont, left, Ken Macintosh and Tom Harris outside the BBC after airing their views on tackling the SNP. Picture: Martin Shields

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Brian Currie Political Editor

Glasgow Pollok MSP Johann Lamont admitted the question was “entirely academic” because of the SNP’s outright majority at Holyrood.

Ms Lamont told BBC Scotland’s Politics Show yesterday she still wasn’t convinced by minimum pricing and insisted that when Labour voted against the legislation this time last year its MSPs were not being “oppositionist for the sake of it”.

She added: “It’s my view we should continue to oppose the measure.”Ms Lamont said she retained concerns about both the legality and effectiveness of minimum pricing but added she hoped Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon would engage with Labour on other parts of the Bill, including a social responsibility levy.Both of the other candidates, Eastwood MSP Ken Macintosh and Glasgow South MP Tom Harris, also said they would oppose the SNP policy.The three candidates were speaking after a party conference in Glasgow on Saturday to ratify changes to its constitution designed to revive its fortunes after May’s election defeat.Mr Macintosh said he was in favour of tackling Scotland’s drink problem but added: “The big difficulty we have with this is the SNP and partly the media have replaced tackling Scotland’s drink culture with minimum pricing, as if that’s some sort of shorthand.“If you look at Scotland compared to England, with very similar prices, we drink 25% more than in England.” He said this showed the problem was about culture and education, “not just about price”.As an MP, Mr Harris has no vote on the issue but said he was “instinctively” against minimum pricing, though he said he respected the SNP for trying to do something about the issue.The comments come as a leading academic on the alcohol industry, Professor Tim Stockwell, and the chief executive of brewer Greene King, Rooney Anand, backed the SNP Government’s plans to introduce minimum pricing.All three candidates were also sceptical of the possibility of the “devolution max” option being put on the independence referendum ballot and urged a straight yes or no question on independence.Mr Harris said: “The problem with devo max is it is whatever you want it to be -- that’s why it’s so popular in the opinion polls. It can’t actually be delivered.“It is just letting Alex Salmond off the hook. If he’s that sure, give us the choice -- yes or no.”Mr Harris proposed making the Calman Commission on the future of devolution a standing commission that would look at all the powers of Holyrood and Westminster and use “an evidence-based process to decide whether more power has to be devolved and if it’s in Scotland’s best interests whether some powers have to be re-reserved”.Mr Macintosh said devolution max, which would grant Scotland full fiscal powers, was “not actually an option”.He also claimed it was a “political device to let Alex Salmond off the hook” as he couldn’t “get his separatist agenda through”.Ms Lamont said Labour had shown a willingness to change the UK’s constitution to maximise the benefits to communities, but warned: “If anyone imagines that arguing for devo max is a way of dealing with those who want to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom, that is nonsense.”

The result of the Tory leadership battle, between Ruth Davidson, Murdo Fraser, Jackson Carlaw and Margaret Mitchell, will be declared on Friday.

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Labour contenders vow to oppose alcohol pricing plan

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