A rise in the minimum age to purchase alcohol from 18 to 21 has also been mooted.
However, The Portman Group has already claimed that the Government is ‘not listening to reason’ and that the proposals would only be ‘scratching the surface’ of the problem. David Poley, chief executive of the industry’s social responsibility group, was quick to voice his concerns: “People who drink to get drunk would not be influenced by these measures. We should be targeting the harmful drinking minority through better education and effective law enforcement,” says Poley.  “Many people will make healthier choices if they receive accurate information and support. Alcohol laws should be enforced properly against people who drink and cause a nuisance.

“Furthermore,” he continues, “raising the legal purchase age to 21 is crazy. It is astonishing that 20 year-old Scots could go to war, smoke and vote but not buy a drink.”

Education
So how are Scottish alcohol brands reacting to the news? Rob Bruce, head of PR for Whyte and Mackay agrees with Poley to an extent in that he feels that the initiative should be more focussed on those prone to excessive consumption and on the education of young people rather than punishing the nation at large.

“Why should the majority of moderate drinkers be penalised for the behavior of the minority, all be it a high profile minority? The Government needs to make sure it avoids nanny state accusations by focusing on the areas where limited resources can truly make a difference.”

Bruce does however add that the proposals could be viewed as ‘reasonable and proportionate’ but that the Government must also give any new initiatives the time needed to work.

“It’s going to take years,” says Bruce, “maybe even generations, to stop people misusing alcohol and to change our relationship with drink. It’s taken more than 15 years to make drink driving the social taboo that it is today. Let’s give this time to see if it makes a difference.”

Paul Miller, Coors’ director of sales in Scotland, may feel that the well behaved majority are being punished, but is also in favour of the move: “The sociability of enjoying a beer with your mates is one of life’s great pleasures and we must not allow this to be ruined by a thoughtless minority.” But he continues: “We believe that social reference pricing, which has worked successfully in our Canadian market, may hold some lessons for Scotland. However we are keen to ensure that the vast majority of responsible retailers and drinkers are not penalised in attempting to address the problems caused by the few.”

Richard McLelland, head of marketing for Brew Dog, a brewer based in Aberdeenshire (and a company that is no stranger to controversy, having recently been involved in a war of words with The Portman Group) says that the proposals are simply ‘common sense prevailing’.

“This action will go some way to levelling the playing field between macro and micro based brewing and we look forward to capitalising on legislation that, for once, will favour David rather than Goliath,” continued McLelland.

While Tennent’s did not wish to comment outright about how it felt the measures would impact the Scottish drinks industry, a spokesperson did say that it was reviewing the proposals and would continue to monitor the Government’s progress.

Patrick Browne, chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, said that the association would seek to contribute to the debate. But he also pointed out that many of the health benefits being sought by the Scottish Government are already being delivered due to a fall in alcohol consumption in response to the economic downturn, which has also meant the closure, on average, of three pubs a week in Scotland.

Disappointed
“Of more concern to licensees is that the industry has already trained around 15,000 people in the requirements of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 as it currently stands. Licensees will be disappointed that the Government is trying to introduce further changes to Scotland’s new licensing system with less than six months to go until its introduction,” said Browne. “That is further uncertainty and cost Scotland’s licensed and hospitality industries just don’t need given the toughening trading conditions.”

So it would seem that while there has not been a great deal of opposition to the moves by the alcohol industry, there are issues that the Scottish Government should perhaps consider before moving ahead.