Price of alcohol - your views online

A group of charities and experts are calling on the Scottish government to increase the minimum unit price of alcohol from 50p to 65p.

Scott Reid

Tosh. Rich drinkers won't give a toss over a few extra quid. Those with a dependency will just make further sacrifices and the majority face yet another effective tax.

Chris Poon

Oh sure, only poor people who can be priced out by 15p per unit have alcoholism problems.

Janice Wilson Deighan

Children will suffer in poorer families as alcohol will come first.

Ian MacLachlan

Garbage! I see more ill health through obesity. People are now wobbling along as they used to be in the US when I first went there in the 1970s. The amount of illnesses caused by obesity far outweighs those due to alcohol abuse. Not only does it cause heart disease but diabetes, amputation, impotence, the cost to the health service, loss of employment opportunities and the loss of loved ones. So what do the “experts” do about it Bring in rationing or put up the cost of food?

Scott Wallace

If you raise the price, all that happens is that people cut back on something else.

Tom King

What do they think will happen? Alcoholics will see the increase and suddenly re-evaluate their live choices? No, these people are addicts and if the price goes up, you'll find that crime will too.

Lilian Wells

It hasn't worked so far, so why would it work this time? The definition of madness is repeating the same action and expecting a different outcome.

Anna Mosspaul

A litre bottle of Gordon's Gin in Asda in Scotland is at present £18.75 per bottle. If the minimum unit price is raised to 65p, that same bottle would cost £25.31. At the moment the same bottle in Asda in England is £16.

Philip Richard Allen

Are these so called experts teetotal? If a person has an addiction to alcohol or drugs, they will find the money no matter what,. All this does is penalise normal drinkers who occasionally have a drink and are not dependent on it.

Tom Hamilton

It won’t make one bit of difference – us Scots love the bevvy.

On the buses

With green concerns remaining at the top of the agenda post-COP26, we asked readers if cheaper public transport would presuade them to ditch their car.

John Dickson

I’m at an age where it’s free. However, we do not honestly have a public transportation system in Scotland unless you live in Glasgow or Edinburgh so unless we start to have a service that includes Sundays and evenings at least until 10pm then no, I can’t get rid of my car because it is essential for travel.

Malcolm Carlock

I'd use public transport if it ran near my house, and more than once per hour. I've lived in places that were served by more buses, tube and surface trains than you could shake a stick at, and it was great. I didn't need a car. But if you don't have that, it's either a car or you're stuck.

Stephen Edwards Thom

I live in Edinburgh and work in Livingston. It currently takes me 45 minutes each way, but if I used public transport it would take two to two-and-a-half hours each way. I also wouldn't even be able to get to work at 7am for a Saturday shift. Even if it was cheaper the time it takes would be crippling.

Jenny Mollison

Frequency or lack of it is the issue for me.

Maureen Middlemiss

After using five buses yesterday when my car was in for a service I would say no.

Kevin Hill

No, not down here in the Borders. 16 miles each way to work would add two hours to my working day. That’s assuming that I could get a bus at the right time.

Joe Nisbet

Not until it was clean and policed better as the amount of passengers I ether drunk or out their faces on drugs is horrible.

Lesley Fulton

All useful public transport in my area has gone, despite the growth in population in the village I live in. It is very limited and infrequent which limits work opportunities due to impractical journey times.

Katrina Evans

It's less about cost and more about having a reliable service that's joined up across suppliers – for example, ScotRail and FirstBus. If my choices are to drive or get the train/bus combination where I'm waiting at least 55 minutes for the bus (if it shows up at all), I'm going to be driving every time.