"OVERWHELMING INFORMED SUPPORT FOR MINIMUM PRICING" - says Mather

Jim Mather, MSP, for Argyll & Bute, has welcomed the statement from Dr Brian Keighley, the Chairman of the BMA Scottish Council, indicating support for the Scottish Government's proposals for the minimum pricing of alcohol as yet another indicator of the need for the opposition parties who continue to oppose the policy but have no constructive suggestions to make to tackle the problem of the misuse of alcohol.

Jim Mather said,

"Dr Keighley's intervention on behalf of the British Medical Association Scotland (BMAS) is welcome and timely. The problem that we have in Scotland with alcohol misuse is alarming and the negative and oppositionist approach of what the BBC is pleased to style "the main parties" to the Scottish Government's proposals is particularly dispiriting.

The scale of the problem is beyond dispute : 42,000 alcohol related hospital discharges per annum,1,500 deaths per year, soaring rates of liver cirrhosis, the eighth highest per capita consumption in the world and a £2.25 billion annual cost to public services and lost productivity. Personal costs and family misery cannot be quantified.

Minimum pricing is not a cure all, a silver bullet, but part of a wider move to educate and deter and control the abuse of alcohol. Minimum pricing will not affect average and responsible drinkers but will challenge retailers who target customers with cheap booze offers.

Support for minimum pricing is broad based and growing- the police, health professionals, the licenced trade, the British Liver Trust and the four Chief Medical Officers across the UK have all indicated approval. All political parties must get behind that consensus and back a policy that will save lives, cut crime and help to improve the quality of life. Continued opposition on party lines looks increasingly irresponsible and indefensible."