I hear our politicians are considering reducing the drink-drive limit. The limit in England is 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood. I have to syay that metric measures mean nothing to me so I have little concept of what this means but gather it is something like a pint and a half . In poor old socialist Scotland, the limit is just 50 which sounds quite a lot lower and I am guessing you might be chancing your luck with just a pint. Our politicians are saying the English limit is out of step with Scotland and much of Europe.
Now, if you live in Islington or Edinburgh, you can probably walk or taxi to your local. However, if you live out in the sticks, as I do, the only way to get to a pub is by car. My nearest local is a mike away along a road with no pavement and with fast moving traffic and it would not be my choice for a local in any case. You would need to be quite brave to walk it. Which leads me to the problem. Rural pubs are a very important part of a village community and they survive on a combination of eating and drinking. Now I am sure it is fashionable to say anyone driving a car should not drink any alcohol and that a party going to the pub only have to designate a non-drinking driver. This does not help the chap who enjoys a lunch time pint on his own, as I do. So, I am dead against a reduction in the drink-driving limit. I want to be free to enjoy a pint at the Black Boy in Milton. I will lose that enjoyment if our government has its way and I fear we will see more village pubs close if the reduced limit is enacted.