Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con

The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-02305, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill. I call the cabin...

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy (Nicola Sturgeon) SNP

I am pleased to open the debate on the general principles of the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill. I do so with a sense of déjà vu, although I hope ...

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green) Green

I have made this point before but I will make it again. Does the Government share the view that we should also think about the ownership structure of the alc...

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

The bill seeks to deal with bigger issues than that. Our alcohol industry has a great deal to offer our country and its economy and it is in the industry’s i...

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Lab

This is not the first time, nor even the second time, that alcohol excess has become a major issue of public alarm in Scotland and the United Kingdom—in fact...

Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) SNP

I remind Dr Simpson that Labour’s attempt to introduce a measure on caffeinated drinks came very late in the day—I know because I was there. The Health and S...

Dr Simpson Lab

I have said that we thought that the evidence was there, and that was confirmed two weeks after the debate by America’s ban. The evidence is now there.We als...

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

I have already said that I am happy to discuss with Labour all the proposals. The question for Richard Simpson is: what does Labour propose to do about the p...

Dr Simpson Lab

I will come to that but the fact is that, since the election, we have not been offered any discussions on the problem at all.The SNP has said repeatedly that...

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

Richard Simpson must take care not to misrepresent the Sheffield model. The Sheffield team found a slightly smaller but still significant impact on 18 to 24-...

Dr Simpson Lab

I am sorry if I am getting under the cabinet secretary’s skin, but it is important that we lay things out. I quote specifically from the Sheffield report and...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

I call on Duncan McNeil to speak on behalf of the Health and Sport Committee. You have 10 minutes, Mr McNeil.15:30

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab) Lab

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I apologise to you and the cabinet secretary for missing her opening remarks. There was a bit of confusion.The eyes of the worl...

Christine Grahame SNP

I do not want to take on the committee’s convener, but I am going to. From the tone of his speech, I am not quite sure whether he is speaking for the committ...

Duncan McNeil Lab

I regret the intervention and the inference that I am not responding correctly or appropriately to the committee’s report. The report laid out a majority vie...

Ruth Davidson (Glasgow) (Con) Con

Despite the cabinet secretary’s sense of déjà vu, the Scottish Conservatives approach this debate rather differently from our approaches to previous debates ...

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Lab

It would be helpful if the member clarified whether the Tories intend that the entirety of the bill, or simply the order-making power, should be notified to ...

Ruth Davidson Con

We would like quite comprehensive notification to the European Commission. In making a voluntary submission, we will have discharged our duty of full diligen...

Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP) SNP

We will take forward the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill as a majority Scottish Government. That brings certainty to the process. However, I am ple...

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab) Lab

As the member knows, I supported the arguments for minimum pricing that the cabinet secretary put forward, and I still do. However, I found it rather odd tha...

Bob Doris SNP

The Scottish Government always takes a sensible approach to taxing the supermarkets—something on which the Labour Party has not been consistent.I want to dis...

Jackie Baillie Lab

Will the member take an intervention?

Bob Doris SNP

I do not have time.I want to examine some of Labour’s misleading claims against minimum pricing, for instance in relation to binge drinking. The Health and S...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab

It is with some concern that I enter the debate. Over the decades, I have become used to the notion that when alcohol is present in any discussion it can cau...

John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) SNP

Given the member’s background and his knowledge of the effect of alcohol on society, are the views that he is expressing his or his party’s?

Graeme Pearson Lab

The views that I have expressed thus far are based on my experience of nearly 40 years in law enforcement. The member is familiar with the debates that have ...

Christine Grahame SNP

Those are all superb and worthy examples, but it would certainly be possible to have minimum unit pricing alongside the measures that the member very reasona...

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab

The member has 30 seconds left.

Graeme Pearson Lab

We are here to debate our way forward in that regard, and I have no doubt that, at the debate’s conclusion, we will all make our choices.Alcohol offences inf...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab

The member must come to a conclusion.