Boris's ban on alcohol on London Transport (with poll)

[teuchter]

This whole argument is the wrong way around.

You're an addict if you can't refrain from doing something. That doesn't mean that anyone that does something does so through addiction.

Someone who couldn't refrain from reading a newspaper or eating a Mars Bar for half an hour would be an addict and would fall within any reasonable definition of mental illness.

Well, exactly.

Someone who couldn't refrain from drinking for half an hour would be the same. However, this does not apply to someone who would like to have a drink on the tube.

 

[goldenecitrone]

At least he hasn't banned public transport. Yet.

 

[ajdown]

are you prepared for the whole centre of london to become a ghost town after 7pm?

If it means I can travel around unhindered and unbothered, I have no problem with that.

Much of the reason I don't go out when it gets late is simply down to the fact that I don't feel safe.

 

[untethered]

I was always taught that they're ungrammatical, so they jar with me. But then, I'm a traditionalist who thinks grammar should be trendy. So there!

By definition, a traditionalist rejects trends in favour of long-established practice.

As a traditionalist, I'd say that grammar should be valued, not merely transiently fashionable.

 

[Sasaferrato]

There is absolutely no need whatsoever for anyone to drink alcohol on public transport.

 

[teuchter]

Can you add a poll to this thread, Editor?

 

[untethered]

Someone who couldn't refrain from drinking for half an hour would be the same. However, this does not apply to someone who would like to have a drink on the tube.

Indeed.

The interests of those who would like to drink on the tube have to be balanced against those who would like the tube to be free of drinkers.

I think Mr Johnson has struck the right balance in this case.

 

[Fruitloop]

What balance?

 

[untethered]

Can you add a poll to this thread, Editor?

That'll make the news. U75 members voting overwhelmingly in favour of drinking on the tube.

 

[Roadkill]

There is absolutely no need whatsoever for anyone to drink alcohol on public transport.

All public transport, or just urban transport? Surely, even if you approve of stopping people having a beer on the bus, you wouldn't want to stop people having a drink with a meal on a long-distance flight or train journey, would you?

 

[untethered]

What balance?

The process whereby you consider the merits of different parties or propositions and come to a judgement that may not please them all.

 

[King Biscuit Time]

There is absolutely no need whatsoever for anyone to drink alcohol on public transport.

What about in parks, or walking down the street?

People seem obsessed with the notion that wherever people are drinking, they are trying to get smashed. The very idea that someone would be thirsty, and pop in to a shop and select a can of lager over a can of coke seems a completely alien concept to most, and it's this ridiculous attitude to drink that gets re-enforced by these stupid draconian laws, and at the same time ensures we'll never normalise our relationship with drink in this country and 'go continental'.

 

[STFC]

Travelling by boat is the way forward - some of them even have bars on board. A much more pleasant drinking environment than a dirty, stuffy, overcrowded tube train.

 

[untethered]

All public transport, or just urban transport? Surely, even if you approve of stopping people having a beer on the bus, you wouldn't want to stop people having a drink with a meal on a long-distance flight or train journey, would you?

Alcohol is already banned on trains.

It might also be advisable on flights, especially some of the cheaper ones to the more popular destinations.

 

[dream_girl]

Can you not relax without alcohol? I manage quite easily.

Of course I can - but no-one is going to tell me I can't if I choose to. I enjoy drinking. I also enjoy reading the paper which helps me relax too. And listening to music. Or I could medidate expcept a tube journey isn't really conducive to this. Maybe I could light a few scented candles around the carriage?

Sometimes I would quite like a cup of tea on the tube - or even a nice cool soft drink.

But some days - I need a beer. I don't mean in an addicted way. But in a I'm in the mood for a cool refreshing beer sort of way.

 

[teuchter]

Indeed.

The interests of those who would like to drink on the tube have to be balanced against those who would like the tube to be free of drinkers.

I think Mr Johnson has struck the right balance in this case.

Yes, the interests have to be balanced.

But I can't agree that the right balance has been struck in this case.

 

[El Jefe]

Alcohol is already banned on trains.

Oh really?

 

[Roadkill]

Alcohol is already banned on trains.

No it isn't.

 

[editor]

Indeed.

The interests of those who would like to drink on the tube have to be balanced against those who would like the tube to be free of drinkers.

Sorry, why should someone quietly drinking a can of beer be bothering you any more than someone slurping on a carton of Ribena?

See as no one here has been able to produce masses of reports of problems caused by people drinking on the tube, please explain why you think it should be banned.

Personally, I'd like my tube train to be free of bigots, small minded people and intolerant types who think they have a right to dictate what I can do and not do when it has absolutely no bearing on them whatsoever.

But there you go.

 

[Belushi]

Travelling by boat is the way forward - some of them even have bars on board. A much more pleasant drinking environment than a dirty, stuffy, overcrowded tube train.

Are boats really a viable alternative to the tube for most journeys?

 

[Fruitloop]

The process whereby you consider the merits of different parties or propositions and come to a judgement that may not please them all.

That's a touchingly naive view of the situation. More likely this is the (recycled) New Labour strategy for diverting attention from the general shitness of a public service whilst grabbing a few favourable headlines by scapegoating some group or activity that the blue-rinse brigade look down on anyway.

 

[dream_girl]

What about in parks, or walking down the street?

People seem obsessed with the notion that wherever people are drinking, they are trying to get smashed. The very idea that someone would be thirsty, and pop in to a shop and select a can of lager over a can of coke seems a completely alien concept to most, and it's this ridiculous attitude to drink that gets re-enforced by these stupid draconian laws, and at the same time ensures we'll never normalise our relationship with drink in this country and 'go continental'.

I agree. Is Boris going to tackle the evil of bored elderly women at home nipping at the sherry throughout the day until they can barely walk?

What about Boris drinking at work? He admitted as much when interviewed on the day of the election.

 

[STFC]

Alcohol is already banned on trains.

No it's not.

 

[untethered]

What about in parks, or walking down the street?

People seem obsessed with the notion that wherever people are drinking, they are trying to get smashed.

And who's fault is that? Would it be the large number of people that make our town centres miserable and dangerous of an evening?

The very idea that someone would be thirsty, and pop in to a shop and select a can of lager over a can of coke seems a completely alien concept to most

It's an alien concept to most non-alcoholics, in the same way that most people needing to relax are generally satisfied with a sit down and a cup of tea and don't have to resort to cannabis.

and it's this ridiculous attitude to drink that gets re-enforced by these stupid draconian laws, and at the same time ensures we'll never normalise our relationship with drink in this country and 'go continental'.

What's "going continental"? Getting quietly and slowly drunk all day rather than quickly all in one go?

 

[El Jefe]

Anyway, untethered, back to alcohol being banned on trains...

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Can you add a poll to this thread, Editor?

Good idea.

 

[Roadkill]

Which trains are alcohol banned on, please, untethered?

 

[editor]

There is absolutely no need whatsoever for anyone to drink alcohol on public transport.

There's no 'need' for anyone to drink alcohol anywhere else for that matter. So what's your point?

 

[STFC]

Are boats really a viable alternative to the tube for most journeys?

I don't care, it's a viable alternative for me!

 

[ajdown]

No it isn't.

Actually it can be.

I can't find the relevant part of the "National Conditions of Carriage" at the moment, but as I understand it, if the train has a restaurant/buffet vehicle, and/or a trolley that sells alcohol, then you may of course consume alcohol on it.

If it does not have a dedicated carriage or trolley service, then you are not supposed to drink alcohol on it.

Unfortunately this is rarely enforced because a) there aren't the staff to do it, b) those that can are afraid of getting attacked for bringing it to the attention of those breaking the rule.

Because people who *want* to drink alcohol cannot understand why they cannot, and often (thanks to the alcohol) turn violent when they are asked to stop.