Minimum drink pricing 'more effective'

The Scottish government has confirmed that it wants to set a minimum price of 50 pence for a unit of alcohol. The aim is to reduce alcohol abuse but some critics say it won't work. Scotland's Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said it was important to have minimum pricing as part of a wider approach to solving the problem of alcohol misuse.

"We have a big package of measures that are addressing the problems Scotland has with alcohol misuse so minimum pricing is by no means the only part of the solution, it's not a magic bullet," she told The World At One's Martha Kearney.

"But there is plenty of evidence that says unless you have a pricing mechanism at the heart of the package of measures, then that package of measures is not going to be as effective as it would otherwise be. So that's why we've decided to go for minimum unit pricing and, of course, where Scotland is leading we're now seeing other countries start to follow."