Drunk on power: control politicians not the people

Wednesday March 18, 2009

Alcohol: measures being introduced in Scotland will affect the moderate majority more than the mindless minority, says Brian Monteith

Within the space of one week Scotland’s minority SNP administration this month proposed yet tougher regulations on tobacco and alcohol.

More control on tobacco is no surprise – the SNP has previous in such behaviour – but the alcohol controls will be the toughest regulations for retailing liquor in Europe by having a minimum price, new rules regarding its sale to 18-20 year olds and limitations on marketing by restricting special deals and its positioning in shops.

There is no doubt that Scotland has a problem with alcohol, but why, oh why, is it thought that by simply raising the price for the law abiding majority and by making it harder for us to buy the stuff, that those that have little resistance to breaking the law already will obey these new regulations, moderate their drinking and pull their punches instead of throwing them?

I regularly visit other countries where alcohol is significantly cheaper, cheaper with Spanish or German taxes paid, than it is at Scottish duty free airport shops – and yet their drink-related violence problems are not in the same league. Also in England, where drink is often cheaper or at least the same price, the problems are less. So what does this tell us?

It says loud and clear that the reason Scotland has a problem is not because of the price or the easy availability of drink (the bars are also open longer in other countries), no, it’s because Scotland’s cultural attitudes to drink and especially to drunks.

Warned

The SNP has taken the example of the public response to the smoking ban as a green light for it to travel down the same route with alcohol consumption – a danger that The Free Society has consistently warned about.

Although opinion surveys consistently showed that while a tolerant Scottish public did want greater tobacco control, such as more smoke-free areas, it did not support an outright ban in all ‘public’ places. Yet after the Scottish ban came in it was not long before there was a majority showing support – but this was hardly surprising given that 70 percent of the public don’t smoke.

The SNP has, however, drawn the wrong conclusion from the state’s ability to denormalise the act of smoking and make smokers less socially acceptable – for the majority of Scottish people drink.

Furthermore the measures being introduced do not specifically target the people causing most of the trouble – the minority of youths that drink to get drunk who are also disposed to cause violence – or those addicted to alcohol. No, the measures will affect everyone and so have the potential to make an awful lot of people rather irritated, maybe even unhappy to the point of withdrawing any support for the SNP that they once entertained.

Control

Let us accept for the moment that the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol is possible (and it may rather embarrassingly be shown to be illegal), the practical problem is that while it will put up the price of cheap but powerful cider it will also put up the price of wine, whisky, gin and vodka but have little impact on fortified wines like Buckfast that are meant to be the cause of so much of Scotland’s ills.

Similarly, trying to control the marketing of alcoholic drinks in shops, be it the positioning at the ends of supermarket aisles next to the baked beans or the offer of various cut-price deals, will, just like the price hike, impact on the vast majority of moderate sensible consumers but not those who are intent on getting recklessly drunk anyway.

When asked, the SNP is still unable to explain why, when beers, wines and spirits are so cheap in Spain and Germany that the scourge of so-called binge drinking and alcohol-related violence are at far lower levels in those countries? So why will price make the difference in Scotland?

It is the SNP that is drunk – on power – not the moderate majority of Scottish drinkers. It is the politicians that need to be controlled.

Brian Monteith is a former member of the Scottish Parliament. He is now policy director for The Free Society