Scottish Labour leadership candidate Michael Marra has proposed a £250 million levy on large alcohol retailers to help tackle drug and alcohol deaths.
He said the money, raised over five years, would be directed into frontline treatment, rehabilitation and recovery services, alongside a commitment to maintain national funding and give providers greater long-term certainty.
The levy would claw back income he claims retailers have gained from the minimum unit pricing policy (MUP).
A retailers’ leader reacted with dismay to the proposal, describing it as “half-baked nonsense” and dismissing as “baseless” the accusation that retailers have benefited from MUP.
Mr Marra, who is the party’s finance spokesman, insisted his plan would help save lives. “Eight years ago, Minimum Unit Pricing came into effect in Scotland. My party voted against it, but it is now the law of the land.
“The policy has meant a windfall of tens of millions of pounds in extra revenue a year for supermarkets in Scotland. I’m proposing we claw some of that money back and spend it on alcohol and treatment services.
“Even a conservative estimate suggests we could raise an additional £50m per year. Almost a quarter a billion of pounds of additional investment intro drugs and alcohol services funded by big business over the course of this parliament.”
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, responded angrily, saying the proposed surtax on grocery retailers “is ill-conceived and deeply alarming”.
He added: “It is profoundly concerning that new taxes on business are being countenanced in such an arbitrary way and with little regard to trading conditions. This was a bad idea when it was suggested in Scottish Labour’s election manifesto and it’s a bad idea now.”
He said “an arbitrary Scotland-only surtax risks pushing up prices for customers and comes as retailers are being clobbered by the UK Government’s colossal increases in employers’ national insurance contributions, packaging levies, and extra regulatory burdens.”
On the MUP allegation, a claim regularly aimed at retailers, he said: “The assertion that grocers have benefited tremendously from the minimum unit price of alcohol is baseless.
“Retailers have responsibly delivered minimum unit pricing, and Public Health Scotland’s own report noted there was no evidence MUP had significantly improved profits.
“The assertion conveniently forgets the government’s regulatory impact assessment which said customer habits would change, which is the whole point of MUP, and that any extra revenues would be marginal and apply to manufacturers as well.
“If Mr Marra is serious about restoring his party’s fortunes he ought to focus on proportionate evidence-based policies, not half-baked nonsense.
“Politicians should focus on growing Scotland’s economy and improving competitiveness, not shackling businesses with arbitrary cash grabs which would have real world implications for retailers, customers, and suppliers, let alone Scotland’s reputation as a place to invest.”
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