It'll drive you to drink

Have they learned any lessons from the local (!) income tax fiasco? Obviously not. The Scotsman reports:

SERIOUS concerns have been raised in Whitehall over the legality of plans by the Scottish Government to introduce a minimum price for alcohol.
The Scotsman has learned UK ministers have been briefed that the proposal announced by the SNP on Monday breaks European competition laws.

The SNP administration has had long enough to think about their proposals. You might have thought that they had time to run it by their solicitors. And why did the civil servants not stop Ministers from making idiots of themselves?