Scots face huge booze price hikes from TODAY as SNP lifts minimum unit costs - with some drinks two-thirds more expensive than England... despite fears the policy doesn't work

Scots are facing an eye-watering 30 per cent hike in minimum alcohol prices from today - despite warnings the policy does not work.

The minimum cost per unit is soaring from 50p to 65p after the SNP decided to press ahead with the plans.

The increase means a bottle of Scotch whisky costs at least £18.20, compared to a floor of £14 previously.

The lowest possible price of a 500ml can of 4 per cent strength lager is rising from £1 to £1.30.

Up to now wine containing ten units of alcohol could be sold for £5, but that figure will now be at least £6.50.

Critics have complained that the dramatic boost in prices will hit responsible drinkers during a cost of living crisis.

Shopkeepers are worried the move will anger customers, encourage more theft and even persuade greater numbers to drive to ­England to stock up on cut-price booze.

In one of the starkest cross-Border discrepancies, a case of 18 cans of Strongbow cider could be sold in England for a standard, non-­discounted, price of £14.

But each can has two units of alcohol, meaning the same case cannot now be sold in Scotland for less than £23.40 – making it £9.40 more expensive.

There are also disputes over the effectiveness of the policy. The SNP was accused of presiding over a 'national scandal' earlier as grim figures showed alcohol-linked deaths running at a 15-year high.

Some 1,277 people died as a result of drink last year, up one from 2022 and the worst since 2008.

The minimum unit price has been at 50p since the rules were introduced in 2018.

SNP health spokesman Neil Gray said the MUP policy had 'saved hundreds of lives, likely averted hundreds of alcohol-attributable hospital admissions and contributed to reducing health inequalities'.

But he conceded that more had to be done to reduce alcohol deaths.

'The Scottish Government is determined to do all it can to reduce alcohol-related harm and as part of that, I am working to ensure people with problematic alcohol use receive the same quality of care and support as those dealing with problematic drugs use,' he said.

'We have also made a record £112 million available to alcohol and drug partnerships to deliver or commission treatment and support services locally, as well as investing £100 million in residential rehabilitation.

'I have also asked that Public Health Scotland is commissioned to review evidence and options for reducing exposure to alcohol marketing.'

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Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (Shaap) and Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS) said that while minimum unit pricing (MUP) had been a success, it needed to be uprated annually to prevent 'cheaper alcohol that causes the most harm' becoming more affordable over time.

Both groups also said the Government needed to do more than just MUP if it is to tackle the 'public health emergency' of alcohol harms, and criticised it for 'dragging its feet' over alcohol marketing reforms.

Dr Peter Rice, chairman of Shaap, said: 'While MUP has undoubtedly mitigated the worst extremes of the impacts of the pandemic on alcohol consumption that have been experienced in many countries worldwide, it's tragic that last year 1,277 people lost their lives in Scotland directly because of alcohol.

'The Scottish Government must maintain MUP's effectiveness by uprating it annually so that cheaper alcohol that causes the most harm does not become more affordable over time.'