WOW £4.69 minimum for a bottle of wine....


" Scotland will become the first place in the UK to introduce minimum drink pricing, after MSPs passed new laws.

The SNP government will set the price of alcohol at 50p per unit, to tackle Scotland's historic alcohol abuse problems.

Under the plans, the .cheapest bottle of wine would be £4.69 and a four-pack of lager would cost at least £3.52.

The move won broad political backing, although Labour refused to support the legislation at the Scottish Parliament.

The Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill, which aims to help tackle drink-fuelled violence and associated health problems, cleared its final parliamentary hurdle when MSPs backed it by 86 votes to one, with 32 abstentions.

Scottish government justice minister Roseanna Cunningham voted against the legislation by mistake.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that, as drink had become cheaper, alcohol-related hospital admissions had quadrupled and half of prisoners said they were drunk when they committed offences.

Describing the vote as a "historic moment", she told parliament: "Tackling alcohol misuse is one of the most important public health challenges that we face in Scotland."
"


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...itics-18160832