Here we go again. Another day, another excuse for the state to interfere in the lives of law-abiding people.
Only this time it's under the banner of “road safety”. The Government is now signalling plans to lower the drink drive limit in England and Wales, dragging us closer to the Scottish model and, ultimately, towards zero tolerance by stealth.
Let’s be clear from the outset, drink driving is dangerous, irresponsible and already illegal. Anyone driving while impaired deserves the full force of the law.
No argument there, but that is not what this debate is really about. This is about punishing the many for the sins of the few, and expanding state control under the pretence of protecting us from ourselves.
The current legal limit has existed for decades. It is not perfect, but it has been understood, enforced and complied with by millions of drivers. The Scottish model hasn’t improved that, so why do ministers now want to lower it?
It’s not because of some sudden explosion in drink-drive deaths, but because campaigners, think tanks, and public-health lobbyists always want more rules, more bans, more control.
We’ve seen this script before: first, it’s “just a consultation”. Then it’s “just aligning with Europe”. Then it’s “just a small reduction”. Before you know it, even half a pint after work becomes a criminal offence.
And who gets hit hardest? Ordinary people, not the criminals. The bloke who drives five miles home from his local, the nurse finishing a late shift, the pensioner popping out for a meal. Meanwhile, habitual drink drivers, the ones who already ignore the law, will continue doing exactly what they do now.
Rural Britain will take the biggest hit. Villages where the pub is the last social space standing are already hanging by a thread. Publicans are still recovering from lockdowns, soaring energy bills, rising wholesale costs and years of being treated as a tax collector by the Treasury.
Rachel Reeves' pub climbdown is a red herring. Labour is about to kill rural pubs by stealth - Adam Brooks
|Getty Images
And let’s not pretend that this is happening in isolation. Pubs are already being battered from every direction by Rachel Reeves’ two Budgets. National Insurance contribution hikes have driven staffing costs sharply higher.
Forced wage increases, regardless of whether a business can actually afford them, have tightened the noose even further. Business rate relief has been slashed, not reformed, slashed, leaving pubs facing bills that simply do not reflect reality.
Many landlords are already working longer hours for less money just to survive. Now, on top of all that, the government wants to discourage customers from having even a single drink before driving home. It’s economic vandalism layered on top of economic vandalism.
This isn’t about safety, it’s about behaviour control.
If ministers were serious, they’d focus on enforcement, not virtue signalling. Catch repeat offenders, target uninsured drivers, go after drug drivers and improve policing visibility. Instead, it’s easier to rewrite the rules and let compliant citizens trip themselves up.
There’s also a dangerous precedent here. Once you accept that the state can dictate what’s an acceptable amount of alcohol for everyone, regardless of body weight, tolerance or circumstance, where does it stop? Food? Sugar? Caffeine? We already know the answer, because we’re living it.
What’s worse is the creeping dishonesty. Supporters of the change won’t say outright that they want zero tolerance, but that’s the direction of travel. Lower the limit today, tighten it tomorrow, criminalise a glass of wine the day after.
This country is drifting towards a system where risk is no longer managed by adults, but preemptively outlawed by government. Freedom shrinks, responsibility disappears, and bureaucracy grows.
Yes, clamp down hard on genuine drink drivers. Yes, protect lives, but don’t insult the public by pretending that banning responsible behaviour is the same thing as justice.
Once again, the state knows best, and you’re expected to sit down, shut up, and accept it.
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