George Lyon MEP and the Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling on the SNP to drop its plans to introduce minimum pricing of alcohol, saying it penalises responsible drinkers and our independent brewing and distilling heritage whilst not actually tackling Scotland's alcohol addiction.

The SNP plans to rack up cost of buying a bottle of wine to have with your dinner or purchasing a bottle of whisky to enjoy at home look set to fall at the first hurdle thanks to a new European ruling.

A new judgement from Europe has determined that Austria, Ireland and France have breached European Directives by setting a minimum price for tobacco.

In the face of this new ruling, the Liberal Democrat MEP is calling on the SNP to drop its plans for minimum pricing of alcohol to avoid costly court proceedings in Europe.

Commenting, George Lyon said: "The SNP plan could cripple Scotland's whisky industry - an industry that supports more than 40,000 jobs. In the meantime, it seems that minimum pricing will not tackle the fundamental problems this country has with alcohol.

"Given the recent news from Europe about minimum pricing, it looks increasingly likely that attempts to set a minimum price for alcohol in Scotland will breach European laws.

"Instead of wasting money on expensive court hearings, we should be focusing on using existing laws to crack down on those that sell alcohol to underage kids and help those get over alcohol addictions."

Under existing laws the authorities have the power to prosecute and take away the licenses of retailers who sell to those that are under-age. However, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed that there are a shockingly low number of prosecutions of retailers selling to under-age kids.

For example, in 2007, only 15 retailers had their licences suspended for breaking licensing law.

George added: "We need an action plan to tackle the culture of alcohol misuse in Scotland. This must include; getting tough on retailers who sell alcohol to under-age kids, schools spending time educating young people on the dangers of alcohol and support for organisations that that help those trying to deal with alcohol addictions."

To join the Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign for a new action plan to tackle Scotland's alcohol problem and to stop the SNP from racking up the cost of alcohol, please sign the petition below.

Sign the petition here