Return of the nanny state! Humza’s bid to ban booze ads is back

Humza Yousaf is to revive the SNP’s hated ‘nanny state’ plans for an alcohol advertising ban despite a backlash from business.

It is less than a year since ministers were forced to perform an embarrassing U-turn and shelve a proposed ban over fears it could cost the hospitality industry £100million to implement.

The Institute of Economic Affairs even found that a ban on adverts in stores, pubs and at sporting events would have little or no impact on consumption.

But Mr Yousaf yesterday decided to reheat the drive to curb booze ads by ‘undertaking targeted engagement’ in a bid to develop a narrower ban.

The original plans, still ‘wholeheartedly’ supported by Mr Yousaf, would have outlawed breweries and distilleries from selling any branded products and forced pubs and restaurants to remove glasses, beer mats and other items bearing the name or logo of alcoholic products.

Supermarkets could also have been forced to hide alcohol behind ‘physical barriers’, with restrictions on end-of-aisle and window displays.

Drinks adverts faced being banned from events such as rugby’s Six Nations, as well as on billboards, buses and taxis. Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said: ‘When the SNP-Green government mooted this advertising ban last year, there was an outcry.

 Industry experts and retailers pointed out that it was unevidenced, unworkable and had the potential to become another Deposit Return Scheme fiasco.

‘Humza Yousaf promised to go back to the drawing board. But he’s returned with plans that haven’t addressed the main problems and are every bit as disproportionate and impractical.

‘Despite his claim that the SNP would listen to business, he seems to be selectively deaf on this issue.’

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), which estimated the policy would cost £20,000 per store, said ministers must consider the pressure they are already putting on the sector.

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the SRC, said: ‘Our members will engage positively on practical and evidence-based solutions to the problem of alcohol misuse.

‘However, any government proposals must take account of both the potential health benefits but also the cumulative impact of government policy, which includes increased non-domestic rates, proposed HFSS [High in Fat, Salt and Sugar] restrictions, the increase in the minimum unit price of alcohol, and a myriad of environmental regulations.’

The Scottish Football Association, Scottish Rugby and Scottish Golf were among sporting bodies to issue a joint rejection of plans to ban commercial links with booze firms, warning the financial implications would be ‘severe’.

Colin Borland, director of devolved nations at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the ‘real world’ practicality of Mr Yousaf’s proposals ‘needs properly assessed’. He added: ‘Even if it was possible for a small shop to, for example, refit their premises to allow for separate “alcohol only” aisles or for opaque cabinets behind the till in which to hide any alcohol, this comes at a cost.’

The Scottish Government said it would talk to ‘public health stakeholders and the alcohol industry’ about ways of ‘limiting young people’s exposure to alcohol promotions’.