DOCTORS in Scotland have written to the Prime Minister urging him to "stand firm" on plans to increase alcohol duty despite opposition from the whisky lobby.
The medics say that "claims by the alcohol industry that they are being treated unfairly do not stand up to scrutiny".
A blanket freeze on alcohol duty is due to end on August 1, meaning that levies will rise by around 10% in line with inflation.
The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) warned that the move, announced during the Budget in March, would deal a "historic blow" to the industry.
Scotland's First Minister, Humza Yousaf, also raised concerns about its potential impact on the sector during a meeting with PM Rishi Sunak at Downing Street in April.
READ MORE: Scotch Whisky Association anger over duty hike
However, in a letter to Mr Sunak, Dr Alastair MacGilchrist – chair of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) – warned that the affordability of alcohol "is closely linked to the harm it causes".
Dr MacGilchrist stressed that alcohol is now "more affordable than 10 years ago" as a result of alcohol duty in the UK having been cut or frozen in nine out of the last 10 years.
📝 Sign up for the Inside the NHS newsletter where each week our health correspondent Helen McArdle exclusively breaks down vital statistics, issues in healthcare and provides a platform to those on the NHS frontlines who are too reluctant to speak publicly. Click here to sign up! 👈
He wrote: "These duty cuts and freezes will have cost the Treasury £23.9 billion in lost revenue from 2013 – 2028 (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2023).
"Because the affordability of alcohol is closely linked to the harm it causes, it is estimated that these cuts and freezes caused the deaths of over 250 additional people in Scotland and almost 2,000 in England between 2012 and 2019 (University of Sheffield, 2019).
"Even after the duty increase in August, in real terms all duties will be dramatically lower than they were in 2012/13, with spirits (including whisky) being 23% lower."
READ MORE: Is alcohol heading for the same marketing curbs as tobacco?
Dr MacGilchrist added: "The claims by the alcohol industry that they are being treated unfairly by the duty changes do not stand up to scrutiny.
"I would urge you to use the new duty system and increased rates from August as a starting point from which to aim towards a progressive model where duty is used to both improve public health and to cover the costs of alcohol harms to the economy and public purse.
"This way we will reduce the significant burden that alcohol poses to our health and wellbeing as individuals and as a society."
READ MORE: Rising alcohol deaths requires 'emergency response'
The SWA calculates that the new duty rate on spirits means that 75% of the cost of an average-priced bottle of whisky – around £15 currently – will be due to tax, up from 70% now.
It has warned of negative impacts for producers, consumers, and the hospitality sector from rising prices on top of soaring energy and food costs.
Mark Kent, SWA chief executive, called on MPs to reject the "unjustifiable" tax hike and "demonstrate their support for the Scotch whisky industry".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here