I’m not sure how many Blackburnians there are in Glasgow, but for sure there are plenty of Glaswegians in Blackburn.

Even the leader of the borough council, Kate Hollern, hails from that fair city.

As these exiled Scots travel north to see their relatives, will they have their cars packed with cheap booze from south of the border?

After all, if proposals from the Scottish Executive become law, a four-pack of larger there will cost a minimum of £3.52, the cheapest bottle of wine £4.69, and the cheapest whisky £14.

Alcohol-related disease – always high in Scotland – has shot up further in recent years.

Much violence, and many thefts, burglaries and robberies, are fuelled by booze.

The Scottish Executive is proposing a 50p unit minimum for alcohol, to try to force down consumption.

In England, the Government is proposing to set the minimum at 40p.

My guess is there will be some cross-border ‘smuggling’ to alcohol-starved Glaswegians by their relatives who’ve made the wise choice to live in our area.

But there’s a bigger issue here – will the increase in price work?

I think it will – and that we should set a similar level of 50p in this jurisdiction.

Ask any A&E staff, any police officer.

Alcohol abuse is now an epidemic.

Low prices are partly to blame. In contrast smoking has been cut, not least by the price being forced up.

It’s elementary economics.

But there should be another benefit for our area – it will help our pubs, and our local breweries like Thwaites and the micro-breweries which have been opening up.

Beer in pubs costs about the same as it did when I first had a pint in the sixties, relative to people’s wages.

What is harming pubs is the huge gap between what they have to charge, and the ludicrously low prices which supermarkets and convenience stores set.

The alcohol trade has had years to act voluntarily to deal with the scourge they’ve been encouraging.

They’ve failed.

It’s time for Parliament – south as well as north of the border – to act.