Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con

The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-02967, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill. I call on Nicola...

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

For the purposes of rule 9.11 of the standing orders, I wish to advise the Parliament that Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Alcohol (M...

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Lab

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

If Jackie Baillie wants to comment on Diane Abbott’s support for the Scottish Government, I will be delighted to take an intervention.

Jackie Baillie Lab

I thank the cabinet secretary for her generosity. First it was the First Minister, and now the Deputy First Minister is following Diane Abbott. I am delighte...

Nicola Sturgeon SNP

What Jackie Baillie does not tell members is that, before saying that, Yvette Cooper said that she supported minimum pricing. That is the position of Yvette ...

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) Lab

I, too, welcome the opportunity to participate in the stage 3 debate on minimum pricing, and I too record my thanks to all involved.Throughout the passage of...

Margo MacDonald (Lothian) (Ind) Ind

Could the member briefly examine whether that figure of 25 per cent is a mean figure across the country? I doubt that it is. I am sure that there are areas o...

Jackie Baillie Lab

I think that the figure varies by income, which I think is the point that the member is making. I am sure that people will look forward to drinking more with...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

I am afraid that the member is running out of time.

Jackie Baillie Lab

—of large supermarkets at the expense of hard-working public services.I move amendment S4M-02967.1, to insert at end:“but, in so doing, strongly believes tha...

Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland) (Con) Con

Today is a significant day. Alcohol minimum unit pricing has been the centre of debate in the current session and the previous session of Parliament, almost ...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

We move to the open debate. Speeches should be of four minutes.16:06

Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP) SNP

The arguments against minimum pricing on the basis of potential supermarket profits or increased revenues have been well and truly exposed this afternoon as ...

Margo MacDonald Ind

I wonder if the member would like to answer a question for me. What does he see as the result of this measure? Does he see everyone drinking a little less or...

Bob Doris SNP

It is not how I see it; it is what the evidence points to, which is that the most harmful drinkers will be most affected by these measures. That is what the ...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

Yes.

Bob Doris SNP

Oh dear. I will be brief.The health benefits of minimum pricing differ according to which group we are talking about. It is said that minimum pricing will ha...

Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP) SNP

I am grateful to be able to speak in the debate, given that I am not a member of the Health and Sport Committee.I want to look at the bill in a slightly diff...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab

I thank Jackie Baillie for covering most of the ground on the thinking behind Labour’s approach to the bill. Equally, I thank Sandra White and Bob Doris, who...

John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) SNP

Will the member take an intervention on that point?

The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick) NPA

The member has no time. He has precisely 10 seconds left.

Graeme Pearson Lab

I support the amendment in Jackie Baillie’s name.16:19

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP) SNP

I have to say that I do not agree with the cabinet secretary because I do not think that Labour’s pitiful opposition to the bill is a fig leaf so much as it ...

Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD) LD

I thank Nicola Sturgeon for pioneering the bill. It is pioneering legislation and she is out there in front, proposing a measure that a lot of people will no...

Richard Lyle (Central Scotland) (SNP) SNP

As a member of the Health and Sport Committee, I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate. Alcohol minimum pricing is the latest step to change the dri...

Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green) Green

I am very pleased that we are introducing minimum pricing of alcohol. The Scottish Greens have supported the bill in this session and we supported the simila...

Fiona McLeod (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP) SNP

I welcome the debate that we have had, I welcome the bill and I welcome the fact that, at 5 o’clock tonight, it will become the law of Scotland. I also welco...

Jackson Carlaw Con

This has been a short but slightly depressing debate in the sense that, even at this late stage, the argument about the bill has continued even though, after...

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

In 2001, as the Deputy Minister for Justice, I recognised that Scotland had a growing problem with alcohol and that we were well into the third wave in our h...