01/11/2011 Newsnight Scotland

is hard to see anybody gaining such Tonight on Newsnight Scotland, a

minimum price for alcohol looks almost certain to become law, but

should it? Is there any evidence it will work? And if there is, why are

some of the opposition parties still against it?

And one in five young Scots are unemployed but the effects of youth

unemployment are felt even by those fortunate enough to find work.

Good evening. It is almost a year since the Scottish Parliament threw

out plans to introduce a minimum price for Al Gore. Now the SNP

government is trying again, although the actual price will not

be decided to will the new year. -- a minimum price for alcohol.

Opposition parties, however, still do not believe it is the right way

to go about it and think it could be illegal.

It's a sight all too often seen our streets. Scotland's love affair

with drink can make for a pretty messy relationship. These are

shocking statistics were released by a major Scotland earlier this

year. Since the 1980s, the number of alcohol-related deaths in

Scotland has trebled, while there are four times the number of

hospital admissions. And although this trend has declined in recent

years, there are nearly twice as many alcohol-related deaths in

Scotland than in England and Wales. The fall-out can leave people in

ruins. These two are both recovering from alcohol misuse.

They think if it have been more expensive when they win younger, it

might have put them off. It was so easy. If you just asked people to

go into the local shop and buy you the drink. And later when I was 16,

I could buy it myself and take it back to when I -- where I lived.

has always been like that. Alcohol has always been there, in the

generations of my family. Always. Adults in Scotland will consume a

fifth more alcohol than adults in other parts of the UK, and sales in

2010 in Scotland were equivalent to 23 units per person per week.

Despite the backing of health professionals, support just could

not be won from opposition politicians in the Parliament. Now

laws can be passed, thanks to the majority of the SNP. The kinds of

products that people tend to drink are not affected by a minimum

pricing. Minimum pricing is about targeting the very cheap and strong

products that are doing so much damage to our communities. The

relationship between the price of alcohol and consumption of alcohol

is well-known. We are seeing emerging evidence from Canada that

price helps reduce consumption. It is not a magic bullet, and we have

never said it is, but it is a missing piece of the jigsaw in

Scotland. There has been enough alcohol sold in Scotland for every

adult to exceed a weekly recommended limits of men, 21 units,

each and every week since the year 2000. It is possible to drink that

amount for about �4. A minimum price has not been set yet. But if

you were to buy this bottle of whisky in the supermarket, it would

cost �11.47. But with a minimum price of 45p unit, it would cost

�12.64 stop this bottle of gin at the moment costs �8.99. But with a

minimum cost at the same rate, it would go up to �11 Eddie paw stop

and here's for big shock. This bottle of cider would mean it would

go up to �6.75. And here's end of a surprise. This would not be

affected at all. But the industry says it does not think this is the

solution. We are opposed to a minimum pricing but not to play in

our part in tackling the Al Gore problem in Scotland. -- the alcohol

problem. Going for minimum pricing would simply penalise the vast

majority who drink responsibly already. And despite Douglas

Alexander's views that Labour should have backed the policy in

the May elections, Labour in Holyrood remains unconvinced.

is definitely going to be an appeal against it. We know that is going

to come. The English have said the UK ministers have already said they

do not think it is legal, so the Scottish government has to publish

its legal advice. It up to 65,000 children in Scotland may be living

in families where there is alcohol misuse. The SNP government will

suggest what the cost per unit will be in the new year in the hope that

future generations will not pay the price.

Well, we did ask Nicola Sturgeon to be on the programme to discuss the

plans but she was unavailable. I am joined by if the SNP's Bob Doris

and Labour's health spokesman, Jackie Baillie. Has the government

taken legal advice on this, Bob? Clearly, they have taken legal

advice. They would not have presented the bill if that advice

did not say if it was legal. It is legal. But we also have to look at

the fact that the Presiding Officer, Alex Salmond, would not have

allowed him to go before Parliament. Nobody can stop Lidgett --

challenges to any legislation brought forward. It is time for

Labour to get on board and dealing with tackling for drink agriculture

in Scotland. But the European code of Justice has said minimum pricing

on tobacco is not to allowed on health grounds. Why would they say

the same for alcohol? For well, we can see that the studies done have

shown there are health benefits from it. For example, in the first

year, there could be masses of health benefits and a reduction in

admissions... The question I ask who was, the European Court of

Justice has ruled that minimum prices for tobacco are not

permissible under competition grounds, even if they have health

benefits. Why should they not rule exactly the same way that a minimum

prices for alcohol are not competitive even if they have

health reasons? They will not do because they will be getting legal

advice similar to the Scottish government's legal advice. If this

is legal and it will happen. I do wonder where the European Court of

Justice took its advice from! Do you agree? There are some real

concerns about the legality of the measure. We have a UK government

minister on the advice of the UK's Civil Service saying it is probably

illegal. If we have the previous evidence to the committee saying

there are a number of ways this could be challenged. But Bob Doris

is raising a complete red herring, frankly. It is not what the

Presiding Officer of the Scottish government things. It ultimately is

a matter for the European courts. I did not want to get technical about

the two tests, but the reality is there is strong advice that the

measure could well be illegal, and we have asked the government time

and again to shed their legal advice with us. They should publish

it. If a lot of people feel that tells us more about the European

Court for the Scottish government, a because if this is a good idea,

it ought to be legal, and on the face of it, it makes common sense?

Nobody is disputing that we need to look at the minimum price of prince.

What we need to do is look at which it mechanism is most appropriate.

There are other concerns beside that. We know that the supermarkets

will get, on the basis of the 45p unit price, a windfall of �140

million a year and not one a penny of that will go on enforcement or

alcohol Education or treatment... Added time when public services are

experiencing such pressure of... The main argument against this is

that basically fit makes a lot of money, even if it has the effects

you would likely to have. It makes a lot of money for the supermarkets

and the retailers rather than, the way an increase in duty would,

where you would have money to treat people with alcohol problems?

not agree with that a tour, because Jackie Baillie fails to concede

that profits from supermarkets and breweries would actually go lower.

She is so concerned about supermarket profit. Why is she

opposing this health levy in Scottish Parliament which would

raise �30 million from these very people she is so concerned about?

It does not stack up. It is hypocrisy, quite frankly. That is

complete nonsense! We have a situation... Why don't you take a

Douglas Alexander seriously? He said in that speech that you not

spent the last parliamentary term a posing for opposition's sake and

one opposition was minimum prize? have to say to him, he is wrong.

Don't get me wrong, we want to share with the government and other

opposition parties the real desire to do something to tackle alcohol

abuse in Scotland. We do not think minimum unit pricing is the silver

bullet. And I have to say to Doris, �30 million a year as a public

health levy from supermarkets does not take the �140 million profit.

And this is coming at a time... At a time when the Scottish government

is in real terms of reducing their budget for alcohol treatment and it

suggests Bob Doris is capable of more hypocrisy than I am. What were

you going to say? I have to say that she fails to concede on so

many fronts where she is clearly wrong, for example, if she wants to

talk about profits made by breweries and supermarkets, let's

talk about having more of these powers to a Scottish Parliament to

get those powers in. For and in real terms, it has increased in

spite of the Pat coming from the UK. Let's get on board with dealing

with the fewer admissions we could have coming into hospitals next

We have constantly have statisticians coming up with claims

of very specific figures. Are we supposed to take them seriously?

Who came up with these figures? They sound ridiculous. You have to

make projections for the health benefits you would want to see, for

example, there could be 50 fewer fatalities. The University

Sheffield on -- the University of Sheffield has a look that is in

detail. -- has looked at this in detail. One of the things the

Sheffield study showed, you chose 45 p, if you made it 60 be, you

would get more than double. It is about looking at balance. You have

to keep reviewing the evidence available, and that is why the

Scottish government is re-running the modelling work. What is the

alternative? You are not in power in Westminster any more. We think

taxation is the way to do it. Prices, north and south of the

border, are actually the same. We have a 25% greater problem with

alcohol abuse in Scotland than they do south of the border. If the SNP

was so keen on working in a consensual fashion, why is the bill

so narrowly drawn, that our ability to come up with other measures is

severely curtailed? New figures today appear to show

positive signs for the UK economy, with GDP growing faster than

expected in the third quarter of this year. But that will be little

comfort to the one in five young people out of work in Scotland.

Youth unemployment is worse here than the rest of the UK, and it's a

problem that's having an impact across the social spectrum, even on

those who are able to get a job. Youth unemployment in Scotland is

at 20.7%. You find that 25.8% young men are out of work. The SNP says

it has concerns about the issue, while the UK government is tackling

it as a priority. Scottish Labour says there is a youth employment

crisis. At the recent Scottish Graduate

Fair, even those with good qualifications, as well as students

nearing the end of their courses, are feeling the impact of the

squeezed labour market. It is almost impossible to find anything

related to. I have ended up having to apply to different things such

as clerical jobs. I can't even tell you the number of letters and

application forms I have written and filled out. It is really

difficult to stay positive and keep going, thinking that one day, I

will get somewhere. But, you have to keep on trying. Those advising

graduates are urging them to understand and accept the new

reality. It has always been the case that graduates will have to

expect to have steps towards their ideal, or graduate, Korea, and that

is more pronounced. -- career. We want to encourage them not to give

up and see them as a trading down, but to see it as where the labour

market is and making steps towards it. If life is tough for graduates,

it is also a part for people who have no skills whatsoever. Many of

the people camped here are complaining against the cuts, but

they are anxious about the affect of youth unemployment on their own

lives. They say you have got to have this,

all these qualifications, but I don't. Because of my conviction, it

is difficult for me to get a job. What is it you want? Can you put it

into words? There is nothing worth living for if you don't have a job.

Get things sorted for everybody. They should start looking at the

people beneath them. Research for the International Labour

Organisation has been looking at the pressure on young people. David

Bell says what he calls greater recession it is that workers are

expecting lower skilled jobs. Scottish Labour say the level of

youth unemployment demonstrates that the SNP's economic plan is are

not working. The SNP, in turn, blames the come -- the UK