SCOTTISH Labour has branded the latest alcohol death toll a “national scandal” as numbers climb to their highest in 15 years. 

The nation’s poorest are more than 4.5 times more likely to succumb.

Latest figures released by the National Record of Scotland show 1,277 people had an alcohol-related death in 2023, up from 1,276 in 2022.

The age standardised mortality rate in the most deprived area, Greenock, was 47 per 100,000 compared to just 10.5 in the least deprived.

Scottish Labour public health spokeswoman Carol Mochan said: “The scale of this crisis is a national scandal. All alcohol and drug deaths are preventable.

“This tragedy is a damning indictment of the SNP’s record of failure in government and a reflection of its past cuts to drug and alcohol services.”

Offering her sympathy to those who had lost loved ones, SNP Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said that “the Scottish government is determined to do all it can to reduce alcohol-related harm.”