Banned wagon
A weekly survey of the things our rulers want to prohibit
TO the question posed by the old sea shanty 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?' will soon come the response: stick him in a cell and put the breathalyser on him. The government is planning a safety-at-sea Bill, which will subject sailors to the same rules as motorists — if they are caught with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, they are liable to be arrested and charged.
Given the havoc that collision at sea can wreak, the measure is not wholly unreasonable — many shipping lines have in fact been imposing a strict policy of no drinking for their crews for many years. But eyebrows may be raised over the extent of the new law. It will apply not only to ships and barges but also to 'all types of waterborne vessels including recreational craft, including those operated on inland waters'. In other words, have a drink or two and then start larking around on a rubber dinghy off Bognor Regis beach, and you will be in trouble.
Is it really necessary to extend a criminal law intended for pilots of powered vessels to people messing around in rowing boats, who admittedly might perish if they ventured into dangerous waters after a night on the town but are highly unlikely to be a danger to anyone other than themselves?
One wonders whether herein lies a secret plan to outlaw immoderate drinking altogether. Since last August drunken cyclists have already faced £20 fixedpenalty fines, and last Christmas safety messages were put out warning about walking while drunk. No government would be so foolish as to ban drinking per se, but just think of the inevitable consequences if they can get away with stopping us partaking in any form of locomotion after we have had a drink. The drinker faces a future in which the only place he is allowed to indulge in his perverse habit is his own home.
Ross Clark Ross Clark
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