TORIES AT SIXES AND SEVENS ON ALCOHOL MISUSE.

TORIES AT SIXES AND SEVENS ON ALCOHOL MISUSE.

DEBATE MOTION NOW ACCEPTS SCALE OF PROBLEM,

Speaking before a debate in the Scottish Parliament on Minimum Pricing SNP MSP – a member of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee – said the Tories were at sixes and sevens on how to tackle the health and social problems associated with alcohol misuse with their MSPs attacking policies their colleagues south of the border want to adopt.

At the Tory conference last month the party’s shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling acknowledged price was a determinant in the health and social problems associated with alcohol misuse and outlined proposals to ban cheap supermarket drink deals, raise the price of super-strength lager and a levy to pay more for alcohol licences to fund policing.

This is despite the Scottish Tories claiming that high prices do not solve alcohol abuse, which itself follows on from Iain Duncan Smith's endorsement of the SNP position.

And the motion the Tories want to debate now accepts that the price of alcohol misuse costs Scotland £2.25 billion a year. Yet in March this year Bill Aitken – the Tories justice spokesperson – questioned the very authenticity of the figures.

Saying that the party was at sixes and sevens on tackling the serious issues of alcohol misuse SNP MSP and member of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee, Michael Matheson, said:

“The Tories position is shifting weekly and they are looking shallow and opportunistic with no serious policies to address the health and social problems associated with alcohol misuse.

“The position of the Tories’ shadow home secretary is an embarrassment to the Tories in the Scottish Parliament. They are at sixes and sevens on tackling alcohol misuse. If they are serious about taking action then they should support the Scottish Government proposals, including minimum pricing and a social responsibility levy.

“And the content of the motion the Tories want to debate exposes how they are on the retreat. It accepts that the costs to Scotland are £2.25 billion a year. A far cry from their justice spokesperson’s comments in March when he didn’t want to believe them.

“The Tories have shown themselves as a party that cannot be trusted to address the serious health and social issues that arise from alcohol misuse. They should drop the grandstanding and address the issue.

“The scale of Scotland's alcohol misuse problem is shocking: 42,500 alcohol-related hospital discharges; 1,500 deaths per year; soaring rates of liver cirrhosis; the eighth highest consumption in the world, and a £2.25 billion annual cost in public services and lost productivity.

“It’s about time they addressed those issues instead of shallow populism that even their own colleagues down south have now rejected.”