FIRST they forced Cathy Jamieson to stick a cork in it, and now the monks of Buckfast Abbey have demanded a vow of silence from her successor.
The distributors of the tonic wine have expressed their anger after Kenny MacAskill referred to 'Buckie' in a parliamentary debate aimed at curbing irresponsible drinking and anti-social behaviour.
The distributors of Buckfast, which is particula
rly popular with youths in west central Scotland, have accused the Justice Minister of demonising their product and have demanded a face-to-face meeting with MacAskill.
But the Scottish Government has refused to back down and insisted it would not be dissuaded from standing up for communities that are being blighted by the consequences of binge-drinking. Jamieson, the justice minister in the previous Labour-led administration, famously called for off-licences to stop selling the potent beverage, but was forced to make a humiliating U-turn after the firm threatened to take legal action.
The latest spat centres on a remark MacAskill made during a recent Holyrood debate on the Government's plans to raise the age at which people can buy alcohol from shops from 18 to 21.
The SNP minister responded to a taunt from Tory MSP Murdo Fraser that the move was ill thought-out and discriminatory by declaring: "The Conservatives have moved on from David Cameron's hug-a-hoodie plan to Murdo Fraser's free bottle of Buckie or David McLetchie's gie-them-aw-a-cairrie-oot idea."
In the same debate, SNP backbencher Dave Thompson claimed that communities in the Highlands were suffering from increased anti-social behaviour as a direct result of off-licences offering cut-price deals on Buckfast.
The comments have provoked the ire of J Chandler & Co, which distributes the wine, made by Devonshire monks, across the UK.
Spokesman Jim Wilson said: "Why is the Justice Secretary singling out Buckfast? Why is he not mentioning any other brand of alcohol? For Mr MacAskill and other politicians to keep making cheap pops about Buckfast is just not on.
"We will be looking to meet up with the minister and put our point of view across to him robustly."
Wilson added: "The last politician who attempted to single out Buckfast was Cathy Jamieson. Kenny MacAskill may have taken over from Ms Jamieson, but sadly he doesn't appear to have learned from her mistakes.
"I have to say to our politicians, before you stand up and make accusations and link us to all sorts of problems, why don't you have the courtesy to phone us first? If they did they would find out that we too are totally against anti-social behaviour and share their goal of promoting responsible drinking."
The alcohol firm said it deliberately neither advertised nor promoted the brand and personally visited off-licences across Scotland to try to dissuade shop owners from including Buckfast in discount deals and two-for-one offers.
"We are being more than responsible, yet politicians like MacAskill continue to just open their mouths and let their thoughts gush out without checking the facts. We are getting really fed up of being targeted in this way."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman declined to apologise and said there would be no let up in its campaign to get tough on alcohol-related problems.
She said: "Communities blighted by alcohol abuse across Scotland know all too well the problems that it's causing. That is why we are determined to tackle the problem.
"We've made a number of bold proposals – from introducing minimum pricing to banning irresponsible promotions – designed to address the drinking to get drunk culture.
"The damage is laid bare in many communities every weekend, and the simple fact is that this is a problem. We know that it's not just one product or brands of alcohol to blame; every responsible drinks producer has a role to play to help solve this problem.
"But let me be clear. We can't go on as we are and we will take action to change this and make no apology to the drinks industry for doing so."
In 2005 Jamieson publicly called on traders to stop selling 'Buckie', claiming that it was fuelling a wave of anti-social behaviour among underage drinkers in her constituency. However, the call backfired when the publicity resulted in a surge in sales of the 15%-strength wine, which sells for around £5 for a 750ml bottle.
Jamieson was barracked by a group of youths in Ayrshire chanting "Don't ban the Buckie" during a live interview on BBC Scotland.
The former deputy Scottish Labour leader later backed down after Buckfast claimed that she had broken the licensing act, which states that you cannot ban or influence the sale of a particular product, and threatened to sue her.
The full article contains 802 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
