EU helping PT's everywhere

[GastonJ]

Five European wine-producing nations are trying to block Scotland's plans for minimum alcohol pricing.
France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Bulgaria have said the policy is illegal, unfair and ineffective and could have a devastating impact on the wine and spirits industry.
They argue that it breaches European free trade law by discriminating against imported alcohol products.
The Scottish government insisted minimum pricing was "perfectly legal".


The European Commission (EC) is currently considering the Scottish government's request to be granted an exemption from trade regulations to enact the minimum price law which was approved by the Scottish Parliament last year.


Under European law, countries are allowed to restrict imports on public health grounds but only if doing so does not constitute a "means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between member states".
In practice a government which wants to introduce such a restriction must prove that the policy is absolutely necessary and that there is no, less-restrictive, alternative.

BBC News - Minimum alcohol pricing: Five countries oppose Scottish drink plan

I'm surprised this hasn't already been posted by GMB

Mr Neil insisted that, unlike taxation, minimum pricing targeted "problem drink" and "problem drinkers", adding: "The problem drink is cheap booze, cheap vodka, cheap cider... and that's where the impact of minimum unit pricing will be.

Which means they'll be targeting drinks that he doesn't like and other people can't afford

[gmb45]

seen this, poss good news fur the pt joks, but its no coming in doon here any way

[Meat-Head]

OFF TOPIC:-

so same again, one rule fir one, anither rule for another, isn't gasoline dear as it is?

[GastonJ]

There's always going to be those that make the rules and those who must obey the rules, fact of life. Only way not to have to obey the rules is to be one of the group making them.

[Lainie]

its not changed anything up here. still as many alkies as usual.

[GastonJ]

its not changed anything up here. still as many alkies as usual.

So if all that happens is the minimum price is raised higher is that people end up spending more to get the same amount of drink and the government gets more revenue from duty and VAT, leaving people less to spend on essentials by the sounds of it. Win win for the government then. They get to claim that they're saving people from being ill while in reality all they are doing is making more money.

[Meat-Head]

Say gaston, what about everybody has to buy booze with credit card, no cash, first few cheap, rest dear?

[GastonJ]

Say gaston, what about everybody has to buy booze with credit card, no cash, first few cheap, rest dear?

Does that mean everyone without a credit card will be unable to drink? That's credit worthiness discrimination that is

[Meat-Head]

Ok just an example, but with modern technology can be sort of policed, you need dk user name to buy booze, goes to spare server, flaggs up you got boose already

BUT

The old lady round the corner will sell to NON DK MEMBERS to ensure no violsnse, tske money off they go

[GastonJ]

or just raid GMB45's fridge when he's out walking, just make sure you take a long wheelbase transit, they can hold more. Be enough in his fridge to keep jokland going for a few years

[gmb45]

or just raid GMB45's fridge when he's out walking, just make sure you take a long wheelbase transit, they can hold more. Be enough in his fridge to keep jokland going for a few years

hmmmm best sup it all before i go then restock when back from pt walk

i agree with jduf, minimum price just an excuse to make more token ffs, they dont give a ferk if we drink to much or not, same with smoking, theres lots of peeps giving up smoking, but they dont say how many young peeps start smoking every year, they know the majority of drinkers/smokers wont give up so its easy money init, at one time the tax on smoking was 8bn a year, cost to treat smoking related illness was aboot 4bn ish so do the math, i would imagine the tax on alcohol a hell of a lot more than 8bn and the cost to treat alcohol related illness would be ferk all compared to the tax they get, so again do the math, they dont want us to give up drinking/smoking all the shite they spout just makes it look like they doing something.

[Lainie]

i dont often buy alcohol as ive better things to spend my wages on so prob best one of the scots lads to post. when i do buy it its normally smirnoff on special offer and those type of offers are in the papers up here all the time.

why not brew your own? (ive no idea how complicated that is)

[Meat-Head]

why not brew your own? (ive no idea how complicated that is)

did see on tv some emerican 'moon shiners' problem basically in Emerica they mad bootleg alchol everynight normally from fruit. One night is was something like 10,000 bannans or nothing so they mad e unptemm MILLION gallons of bannana wine and sold the lot there and then to their 'dealers' who loved it!

[GastonJ]

I remember seeing that one, although distilling isn't quite the same as home brew I don't much like bananas anyway, so I wouldn't be caught alive, or dead, drinking it no matter how cheap it might be.