If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨
Options
Tories to ban drinking on public transport
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7387113.stm
Well the new Mayor of London is anyway.
My initial reaction is that this is draconian. I do understand the 'zero tolerance' argument, but I think it would be better if it were applied to people who actually misbehave, rather than an indiscriminate ban like this.
What do you think?
Well the new Mayor of London is anyway.
My initial reaction is that this is draconian. I do understand the 'zero tolerance' argument, but I think it would be better if it were applied to people who actually misbehave, rather than an indiscriminate ban like this.
What do you think?
0
Comments
Everyone welcomed it. Those who were a little wary were scoffed at as being mostly harmless badly educated folk ...conspiracy theorists ...and so it went.
And I don't see why it's more difficult to police than anything else. Sure some people won't get caught, but then some people get away with burglary - it doesn't mean we shouldn't bother policing it
Absolutely unacceptable of course. But why not simply apply current laws against intimidating/abusive behaviour?
I don't recognise the 'why you can't either drink in a pub or at your house' argument though. I don't see the 'why' as being important. If a person decides, for whatever bizarre reason, that they want to peacefully drink alcohol on public transport, what's wrong with that? Why not focus the law on the bad behaviour which we all accept is unacceptable?
Because it's easier and better to nip it in the bud. I kinda accept the argument its against liberty, but I'm more for the liberty of women being able to travel home at night without a drunk knocking back stella sitting down the carriage.
That's an argument for more coppers (though to be fair I'm not sure if BTP fall under the Mayor's remit or whether they are DfT)
They come under neither the Mayor nor the DfT - they count as their own standard police force in the same way as the Met or West Yorkshire Police etc.
Think the extra PCSO's that Boris was planning were to go under the Met but not 100% sure.
Well, even if it happens in britain, I wouldn't expect it to be enforced that much.
It's been illegal up here for a while, since train's considered as any other public space. No one reacts though, unless you drink excessively and act like a bastard of course.
no it isn't
can see why they mgiht want to, it won't stop drunk people using night buses, which is what ngiht buses are for..... so it doesn't change anything, infact it's rather comforting on the tube into london on a friday or saturday having a nice drink
i think brois forgot that all the long distance commuter services sell booze on them
you've never gone into london from zone 6 have you?
they'll be the same number of drunks they'll just not have the drikns in their hands....
it'd require a by-law change which would take over a year to be put in writing,otherwise it's only a 'rule' on public transport which isn't that enforceable ie would you tell someone who was an agressive person, with a drink in their hand to get off?
Can be covered under:
1. No person in a state of intoxication shall enter or remain on the railway.
2. Where reasonable notice is, or has been given prohibiting intoxicating liquor on any train service, no person shall have any intoxicating liquor with him on it, or attempt to enter such train with intoxicating liquor with him.
3. Where an authorised person reasonably believes that any person is in a state of intoxication or has with him intoxicating liquor contrary to the Byelaws, the authorised person may:
(i) require him to leave the railway; and
(ii) prevent him entering or remaining on the railway until the authorised person is satisfied that he has no intoxicating liquor with him.
He isn't trying to ban alcohol on any rail services.
Is there something wrong with the people of today ...something wrong with our transport system?
To bring in new laws ...regulations ...penalties etc, suggests a problem that has either recently been recognised ...resurfaced ...gotten out of control ...
I think there is something wrong with ...
Me personally? Yes, but then I'm not easily intimidated. But then the law isn't really to protect me is it.
I think it's also covered under existing by-laws, as the railway staff can remove people and if they don't comply the police can remove them.
The argument against seems to be that we better not do anything about drunken yobs because they might hurt us. Much better they slap a woman a bit later, really...
It's been a problem for a while - it's only now someone has decided to do something about it
I'm in favour of banning the drinking of alcohol on public transport myself, for the simple reason that I'm not very comfortable with seeing people getting drunk whilst in a small space like that. I remember when I was taking the bus home from work at night before I learnt to drive. I never enjoyed coming home on a Friday or Saturday night, mainly because the bus was full of drunks. Concerning London specifically, I'm never happy when I see drunk people around on the Tube. I view them as a potential menace, to be honest.
Ultimately however, I think the decision on whether to ban alcohol from public transport altogether should be left to the staff who would have to enforce this law. As it stands, I deem it unlikely that Boris Johnson has asked them what they think.
I can't say I have. But my experience on the tube was that it's not exactly the sort of place where you'd sit down for a relaxing drink in the same way that you might on a Virgin train. Based on the commentary on this issue, most people who are drinking on the tube tend to be drinking on the way to/from a night out. Is that an accurate description?
Yes, that's fair. And I don't see the problem. I've had a drink with friends on the tube many times on the way to somewhere...
It's funny that Boris Johnson has proposed this banning drinking on public transport - because it's exactly the sort of thing New Labour would do. (Therefore not Ken Livingstone who in 8 years didn't...) It's really got New Labour written all over it - a blanket ban - draconian and indiscriminate. There is already existing legislation to deal with people who are drunk, disorderly, violent and intimidating. The real problem is that this existing legislation is not properly enforced - how can any intelligent person thereby suggest the solution is more legislation? A blanket ban on alcohol is a cheap, lazy and ineffectual answer. Solving the actual problem would involve research - finding out where and when trouble spots are - and I don't think you even need to have ever been on a tube train to take a wild guess as to which times are the worst... and solving the problem means putting police officers on the ground in place to deal with the problem (expensive).
double standards non?
exactly, drunk and disorderly is a crime already, people use night buses and tube when drunk without carrying any on - so a new crime won't stop anything
Up here, there's at least two security gust trudging back and forth through the trains at nighttime, especially in the weekends. I wouldn't say it has completely solved the problem about excessive drinking, but I think it prevents the worst incidents. And they do not care about people having a can of beer or two unless you make much noise/trouble.
So it's saving money then? Why is that a bad thing. The police are overstretched anyway, making it easier for them to perform one anti social act by just having a black and white no alcohol allowed will free up time so they can deal with other crime.