A health charity has accused the new First Minister of acting like the “spokesperson” for the whisky industry.
"Alcohol taxation is one of the most effective ways to reduce alcohol harm, as made clear by the World Health Organization. Not only that, to argue for exceptionalism for Scotch whisky is inconsistent with the Scottish Government’s own policy of Minimum Unit Pricing of alcohol to reduce harm – the same policy which has saved hundreds of lives since its introduction.
“On the other hand, by making alcohol more affordable, it is estimated that previous duty freezes have led to over 250 additional deaths and 4,500 hospital admissions in Scotland between 2012-2019.