Exclusive:John Swinney 'undermining SNP's minimum unit pricing' with 'stupid' whisky tax comments
More people are killed from alcohol harm than drugs harm in Scotland.
Health campaigners have accused First Minister John Swinney of undermining the Scottish government’s flagship minimum unit pricing policy after venting his frustration at “stupid decisions on alcohol taxation”.
Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) has penned a letter to Mr Swinney after his comments last month.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions in February, Mr Swinney claimed that “countless Labour and Tory governments have made it more and more difficult for the spirits and beer industry in this country to survive because of their stupid decisions on alcohol taxation”.
The Scottish government’s minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol is 65p per unit which prohibits selling alcohol below this price. The policy aims to reduce alcohol-related harm by targeting cheap, high-strength products.
In his letter to Mr Swinney, seen by The Scotsman, chairman of SHAAP, Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, warned that “characterising alcohol taxation in this manner is at odds with the overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating that pricing measures, including taxation, are among the most effective tools available to reduce alcohol-related harm”.
Scotland recorded 1,185 alcohol-specific deaths registered in 2024, the latest available data shows. Although this is the lowest annual amount in five years, it outnumbers the 1,017 drug deaths registered in Scotland in the same year.
Dr MacGilchrist pointed to the World Health Organisation stating “alcohol taxation as a ‘best buy’ for reducing harm”, adding that “your own government’s flagship policy of minimum unit pricing operates on precisely the same public health principle”.
He added: “Managing the price of alcohol reduces consumption and saves lives.”
“It is difficult to reconcile this commitment with your characterisation of alcohol taxation as ‘stupid’”, Dr MacGilchrist added.
“Both MUP and alcohol duty work by the same mechanism – increasing the price of alcohol to reduce consumption – and to dismiss one whilst championing the other is contradictory.
“The evidence for the effectiveness of these measures is compelling.
“Alcohol duty does not come close to covering the costs that alcohol imposes on the health service, the justice system and the wider economy.”
Pointing to the 1,185 annual alcohol deaths and 29,430 being hospitalised due to alcohol harm, Dr MacGilchrist stressed that “each of these deaths is preventable”, adding that “pricing measures are among the most effective tools available to reduce them”.
He added: “As First Minister of a country which declared alcohol harm a ‘public health emergency’, we would respectfully urge you to reconsider the language used to describe alcohol taxation.
“Your words carry significant weight and have the potential to undermine support for pricing policies which the Scottish government itself recognises as essential to reducing harm.”
In response, SNP drugs and alcohol policy minister, Maree Todd, said: “This month, we published a new long-term alcohol and drugs strategic plan with record levels of funding for alcohol and drug policy of more than £160 million in total this year – an increase of more than 75 per cent from £91 million in 2020-21.
“In this parliament we have increased the minimum unit price of alcohol – a policy that has been estimated to have saved hundreds of lives during the period it was reviewed.
“Minimum unit pricing targets drinks that are cheap relative to their strength. We have also called on the UK government to address the unfairness of duty being applied inconsistently across alcohol products.”
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