The Scottish Parliament voted yesterday to continue Minimum Unit Pricing beyond its sunset clause, and to increase the rate from 50p to 65p per unit of alcohol.
The increase will take effect on 30 September 2024.
Drugs and Alcohol Policy Minister Christina McKelvie that she was “pleased that Parliament has agreed to continue MUP legislation and to raise the level it is set at”. She continued “Despite this progress, deaths caused specifically by alcohol rose last year – and my sympathy goes out to all those who have lost a loved one. However, as a letter to The Lancet by public health experts makes clear, it is likely that without MUP there would have been an even greater number of alcohol-specific deaths.”
Public health groups welcomed the news, with Alcohol Focus Scotland’s Alison Douglas stating:
Well done Holyrood. You have chosen to stand up for peoples’ right to health despite the best efforts of Big Alcohol once again to derail this policy. Uprating of the minimum unit price to 65p per unit will save hundreds of lives and reduce demand on our NHS.
This will improve the lives not just of people who drink but those around them, whose health and wellbeing can be affected. Crucially it will reduce the likelihood that future generations will develop alcohol problems. But there is so much more to do. Now we must address how alcohol is marketed as a glamorous, fun product, while giving us limited information which we need to make healthy choices.
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, Chair of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, also congratulated the decision, and said:
The Scottish Government should now prioritise the implementation of an automatic uprating mechanism for MUP, to ensure that the level of MUP is in line with inflation and it does not become more affordable over time. This way the benefits of the policy will not decline year on year.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said:
It has been a long, arduous journey to get here, but Scotland can now celebrate this major win for public health. Minimum unit pricing has been shown to save lives, decrease hospital admissions and reduce health inequalities. Used alongside effective treatment services and other evidence-based policies that address the pervasive marketing and availability of alcohol, it will go a long way to reducing the extreme levels of alcohol harm in Scotland. I would now urge the government to go one step further and introduce an automatic uprating system that ensures the policy remains effective against inflation.
People want to lead healthy lives. There is widespread public support for policies that tackle harmful commodities in our communities. Westminster must now step up and follow Scotland’s example to protect our nation from one of the leading risk factors of ill health and premature death.