> it tends to penalise those on lower incomes the most.
Yes, and I'm generally opposed to taxing the poor, but when the studies on alcohol consistently show greater harm to less well off people, a specifically targetted deterrant is worth considering.
> Some EU countries with the highest alcohol prices (ie, Finland) have high levels of alcohol consumption, yet go to Germany and despite the cheap alcohol, consumption is a lot lower in general.
Obviously price isn't the only factor, however your claim there does not match WHO statistics:
Three year averages between 2009..2011 and 2015..2017 show Germany's alcohol consumption increasing from 12.9 to 13.4 litres per capita.
In the same time period, Finland's consumption decreased from 12.6 to 10.7 litres per capita.
> I do feel that minimum pricing is not really the solution, an educational approach would be more effective (albeit more difficult)
I'm always in favour of education, but when it's not working then it needs to be combined with other approaches.
Russia's average consumption peaked in 2003 at over 20 litres per capita. That was the year Russia introduced minimum unit pricing (along with other measures), and their consumption rates have been falling since then. For the same two periods mentioned above they went from 15.8 (2009..2011) to 11.7 (2015..2017).
Since 2003, life expectancy in Russia has increased by ten years.
> I don't think the minimum pricing thing will make a whole lot of difference
I don't expect Scotland's results to mirror Russia, but the evidence I've seen definitely suggests MUP is a significant part of the solution.
> Personally though, I'll be voting SNP - mainly as it is a 2-horse race in my constituency between SNP and the Tories.
It's still a one horse race here. :(
Though their margin was significantly reduced last time, so perhaps there's an outside chance of that changing...
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