GIVE us a break. We've been through two years of a global pandemic where the furthest most of us got was a week away in rainy old Scotland and now we're told that the time-honoured tradition of a pint at the airport could be outlawed.
Unusually, it's not the Scottish Government indulging in this latest bit of nanny statism but their counterparts at Westminster which is considering proposals to restrict pub hours and has suggested banning alcohol sales from 4am to 8am.
Pub chain Wetherspoon's claims that restricting pub hours would “adversely affect the tourist industry” is laughable but it is worth asking what's behind the breakfast booze ban.
Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said Covid pub closures should act as a catalyst for change.
Why? Many people will wonder what Covid has got to do with pubs in airports. Others will suspect that Covid is being used as a form of social engineering – to push through behavioural change in the masses with no discussion.
Dr Linda de Caestecker, Glasgow’s director of public health, said the current laws were contributing to the normalisation of “drinking to mark every social occasion”.
I'm afraid many people will feel alcohol is a part of Scottish culture and that life would be immeasurably duller without it.
It's already a criminal offence to be drunk on an aircraft...and the airport staff will stop you at the gate if you try to board when you are blotto.
A fly pint before flying off is the start of a holiday for many people. People who have worked hard all year to afford a holiday and a break for the norm.
Why should the vast majority of sensible adults pay the price of a few half-wits?
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel