Salmond majority means minimum pricing

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, is not a man to miss a political opportunity.

Having lost a vote to introduce a minimum selling price per unit of alcohol in 2009, he has pledged to reintroduce the measure now that he has a majority in the Holyrood parliament.

And this time around the Scottish Liberal Democrat and Labour parties have signalled that they will not oppose the Scottish Nationalists’ manifesto proposal. So legislation seems certain.

Salmond’s proposal rests on the idea that higher pricing will combat alcoholism and thus perform a laudable social purpose. But the SNP intends to ignore the complex arguments about whether a blunt pricing instrument will have a demonstrably beneficial effect in curbing alcohol abuse rather than simply penalising both the less well off and the responsible majority.

Nor are they heeding the Scotch Whisky Association’s case that at a time when demand is burgeoning, such a measure could damage exports to countries such as India and Korea, which are only reluctantly dismantling trade barriers.

What the SNP will be unable to ignore, however, is that Brussels regards minimum pricing as illegal. Here Salmond is making stirring noises about bureaucrats opposing social reform but studiously ignores the EU’s competition laws, which are stacked against him.

Nor will he be able to ignore the awkward political fact that almost certainly minimum pricing will mean windfall profits for the supermarkets because none of the extra revenue will flow to Holyrood or Westminster. The SNP wants control of excise duties to be devolved to solve that conundrum, but given that the UK Treasury regards the drinks industry as a cash cow, such requests will fall on deaf ears.

So the scene is set for Salmond to wrap himself in the Saltire and portray himself as a modern-day Braveheart thwarted by the English (Westminster is opposed to minimum pricing) and Brussels at the same time. All good political knockabout, especially because the target is an undeniable social blight.

Salmond has a track record as a grandstanding tartan David taking on the EU Goliath. Only last week he praised an SNP lobbying campaign (which he spearheaded) in Europe’s standing committee on the food chain and animal health. They proposed reducing the maximum permitted level of colorant Sunset Yellow (E110) in flavoured drinks to 10mg per litre because of the affect on child health, particularly in the UK. This has since been doubled to 20mg per litre, the exact level used by Scottish drinks group AG Barr in its talismanic Irn-Bru.

“It’s a victory for our other national drink”, said Scotland’s first minister. “I’m delighted that common sense has prevailed and that Europe’s decision protects this iconic Scottish brand.” There was no mention of the health aspect of the decision.