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Scotland to ban buy one get one free

Three-for-two and other multi-buy discounts on alcohol are to be outlawed in Scotland as part of the country’s crackdown on binge drinking.

The Scottish Government announced plans this week to extend the Licensing Act to prevent retailers from offering ‘irresponsible promotions’, according to Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill. It also proposes to restrict the areas in which retailers can sell wine and other alcoholic drinks in a bid ‘to help challenge the perception that alcohol is no different to juice or water’. Minimum alcohol prices are being considered too.

However, the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) and the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) believe that the measures will unfairly penalise the majority of Scots who are responsible consumers without having the desired effect of reducing alcohol misuse.

SRC director Fiona Moriaty said, ‘There is no evidence to suggest that promotions increase alcohol misuse.’ She added that, ‘It is hard to see what the Government is hoping to achieve by restricting the area in which alcohol can be displayed.’ Northern Ireland has already introduced restrictions on where retailers can display alcohol and again, ‘there is no evidence to suggest it has had any affect whatsoever on the consumption of alcohol,’ according to Fiona.

WSTA chief executive Jeremy Beadles doesn’t believe the announcement will do anything except restrict consumer choice as well as damage the Scottish economy. He said, ‘The Scottish Government recognises that alcohol is a legal substance enjoyed responsibly by most of the adult population. Rather than hiding alcohol away and penalising the whole population with controls on pricing and promotion, we should continue to work together to find evidence-based, targeted solutions that will actually make a difference to the underlying problems of misuse.’

The amount we drink has been falling over the past couple of years. Last year in the UK we drank three per cent less, which is the largest decrease for 15 years, and in 2005 drinking dropped by two per cent, according to statistics (source: HM Revenue & Customs/Nielsen/British Beer and Pub Association).

One wonders, however, whether price controls in Scotland would just encourage consumers to make ‘border runs’ to England in the same way that drinkers in the south hop across the Channel for cheaper alcohol.