WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT BACKS MINIMUM ALCOHOL PRICING

WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT BACKS MINIMUM ALCOHOL PRICING
Michael Matheson MSP has welcomed a call by the Welsh Assembly Government for the introduction of minimum alcohol pricing to help tackle the harm done by harmful drinking.

The calls were made today by Edwina Hart AM, Minister for Health and Social Services in the Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition Welsh administration. Ms Hart has said that if the UK government does not take action to introduce minimum alcohol pricing, she and her colleagues will seek to have the necessary powers devolved to Wales in order that they can do so themselves.

SNP MSP Mr Matheson, a member of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee, said:
"The coalition in favour of minimum pricing as an effective approach to tackling the worst damage done by alcohol abuse is growing by the day. The Welsh Assembly Government joins a chorus of expert voices in health, public order and the licensed trade who believe that the selling of alcohol at rock-bottom prices is one of the biggest problems facing our society and that we have to take action to stop it now.

"That's why they support the SNP's policy of minimum pricing. It is sensible, pragmatic and evidence-based and it will help to address the most harmful use of alcohol without penalising responsible drinkers.

"It is somewhat ironic that while Edwina Hart and her Labour colleagues in the Welsh Assembly Government are prepared to take radical action to against dirt-cheap drink for the sake of their nation's health, Labour in Scotland continue to cynically put party politics above public health.

"I congratulate Ms Hart and her colleagues in the Welsh Assembly Government on their determination to tackle the damage caused in Wales by the abuse of alcohol. The SNP government shares that determination in Scotland. The SNP's minimum pricing plan will save lives, cut crime and help re-balance Scotland’s damaging relationship with alcohol, and I call again for Scots politicians of all parties to stop playing politics with the nation's health and get behind these proposals."