COLIN CAMPBELL: No justification for hammering social drinkers yet again

The SNP like to claim that after independence Scotland would soon be well on the way to being in the top rank of prosperous world nations right alongside oil-rich Norway.

We wouldn’t, but we might soon find it cheaper to go to Oslo for a drink.

Having with misplaced pride “led the world” in introducing minimum pricing for alcohol, the SNP government is now being urged to twist the corkscrew and raise it even further, from 50p a unit to 65p or even more.

This is despite scant evidence that it’s made any difference to the serious problem drinkers it was originally targeted at. However those it has undoubtedly hit are moderate, responsible people who enjoy a quiet beer or a tipple at home. Now we could be hit even harder.

First Minister Humza Yousaf and his cohorts are reported to be “seriously considering” these recommendations.

Don’t they know there’s a cost-of-living crisis going on?

They back a charge of 20p extra on every can and bottle which would be sold under their disastrous Deposit Return Scheme, which has now been deferred thanks to a very welcome challenge from the UK government. And now they could jack up the cost of the contents of those cans and bottles as well.

Those who enjoy a drink at home might or might not cut back. The likelihood is that most of us would just fork out the extra rather than be denied one of life’s small pleasures.

Booze-related legislation sometimes works, when there is an outstandingly clear case for it. Very few people I suspect would still argue with the ban on smoking in pubs, which was highly contentious at the time.

And no one outside the now shrunken vagrants community would surely disagree with the ban on outdoor drinking. What an extraordinary difference that made to Inverness.

During the day parts of the Highland capital looked like Skid Row. Our “jewel in the crown” riverside was a popular gathering point for the town’s thirstiest who quaffed cheap sherry or cider by the bucketload on benches there while tourists struggled to find a seat. And the prime position for bench-based boozing in Inverness was the railway station. Passengers and staff busied themselves around the concourse while drinkers scattered around it swallowed hard and went absolutely nowhere.

One bench, always packed, directly faced passengers getting off trains from London and the south. After clearing the barrier, that would be the introduction to the Highlands for first-time arrivals, purple-faced lads and lasses encircled by bottles with pools of liquid on the floor. “Welcome to Inverness!”

Those days which now seem strange to look back on are over. New laws put an end to all that.

But further legislation on minimum pricing would be on much wobblier ground. So far the evidence is not there that it worked first time round. On that basis there is no justification for piling on even more extra charges.

And I can’t get away from the overriding question that surrounds it. Why should I and others like me be penalised yet again because some others choose to wreck their lives with drink?