Back in 2018, the Scottish government decided to be either responsible adults or boring killjoys, depending on who you ask, when it introduced minimum unit pricing on alcohol. This meant that retailers and pubs had to charge at least 50p per unit, so if a pint contained two units it could not cost less than £1.
Obviously, this didn’t affect prices in pubs and restaurants much, being that they were (sadly) already charging more than £1, but it did mean that the cost of most alcoholic drinks, especially spirits, in shops and supermarkets went up. Now that minimum price is increasing to 65p, meaning your booze is about to get about a third more expensive.
For example, a 70cl bottle of vodka, which can cost as little as £11.99 in England, will now set you back at least £17.06. A bottle of 12.5 percent wine will be £6.09 at minimum, while an average can of beer will start at £1.30.
The rule was initially introduced as an effort to reduce the amount of very cheap, very strong alcohol that consumers were buying, in the hopes that it would lead to an overall drop in alcohol related deaths, but it’s unclear if it’s actually made any difference. Some say that it has become less effective as a deterrent thanks to inflation, hence the increase, while others say it’s not a useful way to improve public health.
It’s one of many measures Holyrood has brought in to try and reduce alcohol deaths in the country, including a blanket ban on buying booze after 10pm, and no longer allowing people to drink outside or on public transport in Glasgow.
Whether you think it will work as intended or not, as of October 1 at 12.01am the switch has officially happened. Why not celebrate with a bottle of wine? Just make sure to budget correctly for it.
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