It’s a tough time to be Scottish

Hard-working Scots could be forgiven for resorting to a stiff drink tonight as they contemplate an extraordinary triple attack on their living standards. The minimum unit price of alcohol has risen by 30 per cent, peak-time rail tickets have nearly doubled, and the energy price cap has just gone up by 10 per cent or £149. Oh, and many pensioners have also lost their winter fuel payments thanks to Rachel Reeves, ‘the pensioner freezer’, as the Labour chancellor is being called, even by some in the Scottish Labour party.

But that hike in the minimum unit price of alcohol, which adds insult to injury, is entirely down to the Scottish government. At a time when families are struggling, it seems entirely the wrong moment to punish moderate drinkers for one of the few compensations for living in our harsh Scottish climate. Beer and wine will cost up to 67 per cent more than in England.