Scottish goverment rejects plans to raise legal drinking age
The Scottish government has voted overwhelmingly to reject plans to raise the legal age from 18 to 21, for those buying alcohol from off-sales.
But despite a defeat in parliament by 72 to 47, the Scottish National Party has vowed to press on with the controversial plan, which is just one of a package of measures aimed at tackling alcohol abuse.
Scotland's Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, said: "Alcohol misuse is costing Scotland more than £2.25 billion a year, this is causing problems in our health service and criminal justice system and undermining our economy. This Government will not standby and do nothing.
"While I'm disappointed with the way parliament has voted, we can't ignore the experience of the local pilots which show that raising the age can help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour."
The government's community pilot schemes saw anti-social behaviour calls on Friday and Saturday evenings reduce by 40 per cent, while breaches of the peace also fell by 40 per cent and minor assaults there were down by 30 per cent.
"As well as listening to the views of opposition politicians we'll listen to and respect the rights of our communities and police before we announce the way forward" said MacAskill.
The consultation on the package of proposals which also includes setting a minimum price for alcohol, and banning irresponsible promotions, was completed on September 9. The vote in parliament last night was to gauge MSPs' opinions on the package and is not binding.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said a Bill to introduce these measures was likely to be outlined before the end of this year.
But many MSPs and trade bodies have spoken out against the controversial package stating that a change of law is not what Scotland needs and would unfairly target those who do not abuse alcohol.
Gavin Partington from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: "These proposals are greatly unfair to the vast majority of responsible drinkers. The Government needs to come up with measures that will affect the target groups that need to be combated, rather than the whole population.
"The Scottish Government must take heed of the opinions expressed in the parliament, and the strong campaign against these proposals, otherwise they will be resented for failing to take account of the public opinion and that of the MSPs.
"People will wonder why the government even bothered with a consultation."
Partington insists that more attention needs to be focused on enforcement of the existing law. He said: "If enforcement of the existing legal age of 18 is not working then raising the age to 21 will fail in the same way."
