Scottish Health Action on Alcohol problems (SHAAP) has today written to the new Secretary of State for Scotland, Douglas Alexander, calling for alcohol duty to be raised in the upcoming UK Government budget.
In 2023, there were 10,473 alcohol-related deaths in the UK, the highest number on record and a disproportionately high number of Scots die because of alcohol, with 1,277 deaths reported that year.
Despite the World Health Organization recommending alcohol taxation as one of the most effective ways to reduce alcohol harm, alcohol duty has been cut or frozen for most of the last decade. Alcohol duty, and minimum pricing, can be used to reduce overall consumption rates, thus reducing harm, and the revenue collected can be used to address the harms caused by alcohol.
To address alcohol’s rising affordability, then-Chancellor Alistair Darling implemented a duty escalator in 2008 in the last Labour government. This saw the duty rate on all alcoholic drinks increase by two per cent above the rate of inflation every year. While it was in operation UK alcohol-related deaths began to fall. However, it was phased out by 2014 by his successor, George Osbourne. SHAAP is calling for the Secretary of State for Scotland’s support for a return of the duty escalator.
SHAAP is also challenging the false claim that increases in alcohol duty are bad for the whisky industry. Scotch whisky is, by and large, a drink produced in Scotland for other people to drink with 90% of whisky exported from the UK so duty is not paid on it.
Another claim being pushed by the industry is that “75% of a bottle of whisky is tax.” However, the reality is that duty is a fixed charge per litre of alcohol. All 70cl bottles of Scotch at 40% pay £9.18 in duty. Only the very cheapest bottles come close to 75%. For most whiskies it’s far lower: on a £30 bottle, duty is 31% of the price; on a £50 bottle, just 18%.
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist OBE, Chair of SHAAP said:
“With so many misleading claims from the alcohol industry circulating, it’s important that our policy makers know the facts. Raising alcohol duty is an internationally accepted means of reducing alcohol harm. It also raises money for the Treasury, and those funds can in turn be used to pay for treatment and support for people with alcohol problems.
“Whisky is often touted as Scotland’s national drink, but Scots prefer beer, wine and vodka. The vast majority of whisky is exported for other people to drink, and the UK government is not able to collect any duty on it.
“Despite the industry spin, the truth is clear: the UK experiences high levels of harm from alcohol and the government has a responsibility to address this. Increasing duty reduces the affordability of alcohol, while raising public funds and saving lives.
“I would encourage the new Scottish Secretary – and all policy makers that are currently being lobbied by the alcohol industry – to look at the facts, consider the health and wellbeing of their electors and at a minimum support the Chancellor in increasing duty in line with inflation. However, the most effective approach would be to re-introduce Labour’s duty escalator as a means of reducing alcohol-related harm and increasing revenue to the Treasury.”