In what wil be one of Boris's more interesting policies, he is going to propose the banning of alcohol on the Underground.
I am a staunch hater of people drinking on public transport (though I undoubtedly did it once or twice during my uni days). It's just a horrible anti-social thing to do, and, most of all, I don't really see the point.
Yes, it's a cheaper way of getting in a cheeky cheap drink before you have to pay in a pub, but there are more appropriate places to do it.
Depends which band.
The Enemy are cunty enough sober, so yes.
Slayer? Well......you first, I'm saying NOTHING.
it's entirely hypocritical of me to say
but it's a shame we'd need to ban something like that to prevent it
so yeah, go for it.
I have no problem with him doing that.
Don't feel massively strongly either way but can see the sense.
Ban spods from the underground?
yes, alleyways are Much more appropriate
Not the worst
idea I've heard. Certainly more people drinking on the tube are antisocial buggers than aren't. Nightmare to police it though, and I suspect you'd end up with those that are actually a problem while doing it continuing while those that are sensible and relatively quiet about it stop.
I do it.
Probably wouldn't care if it was banned though. A bit like the smoking ban.
Yes, I accidentally wrote 'band' instead of 'ban'
Do feel free to get all those funny jokes out of your system.
why did the chicken cross the road?
i've only seen men
drinking stella or heineken on the train in the afternoon. Never seen it on the bus or tube. Is it really a big problem or just a waste of time?
Isn't this illegal anyway?
Yes, it should be banned
i think so
i may have had one or two quick, sly swigs of whiskey on the train, but i'm unassuming and quiet. i'm not a buckfast guzzling, lairy yob looking to pick a fight with the next person who looks at him.
public transport is scary enough without it.
For me the bottom line is that.....
people cannot behave themselves, I find the vast majority of folk can behave themselves with regards to drinking in public but it is always the few arseholes that let down everybody else. As much as I hate to say it i think alcohol should be banned on public transport!
However I doubt I would stick to it all the time! But then I can behave myself.
I fucking love drinking on the train
But not the tube, the proper trains. I went on a trip to Paris recently and getting plastered on the eurostar is something I whole heartedly recommend. Especially on the way back - the Franch have screw top bottles and you CAN PUT THE TOP BACK ON!
The continentals...
...so far ahead of us it's not even funny.
up here
it's banned on buses and the like anyway, so it always strikes me as so weird seeing people drink on the tube...
also i really fucking miss london. argh!
Yes, unless said alcohol is in a brown paper bag
I could see how it causes problems, but I think to ban it wouldn't be right. Mainly because having a couple of cans on the Manchester - London train is a good way to relax and pass the time, and ignore the fucking screaming kids sat opposite you.
On the Underground...I can see why people would be intimidated by people drinking in such a confined space, but it's just symptomatic of the way alcohol is treated in this country. Banning it isn't really going to make the problem go away, is it.
No
Not that it would really bother me either way but I quite like a quiet drink or two on the way to a gig in London.
If i'm not driving, I should be drinking
^^my new favourite quote.
Its been mine ever since the ban
(bad) joke
i do it all the time.
opposite kennington tube is a shop that sells dragon stout for a quid. if im going to somewhere that i'm going to be drinking, i drink a bottle on the way. it saves me money and has no effect whatsoever on anyone else.
exactly
hmm...
long journey's on trains to gigs/visit friends would be shit without being able to get hammered. not in favour.
i mean, on a packed train full of men in suits, steely eyed women and the odd kid, i would likely feel way too self conscious to drink anyway. same goes on the underground, even though i have indulged. main problem is no bins = leave it on the seat = rank looking trains.
As long as they're not being dicks
the worst thing ever is being stuck in a carriage or on a bus with some drunk cunt because you have to wait till the next stop to get off.
Yeah, fair enough...
But if you're on a bus or tube then it's more likely they got drunk elsewhere first, then got on. Rather than get wankered during the short journey. Drinking on the bus/tube isn't really going to affect them that much. I reckons.
Something like long distance coach or national train, I can see why this would be a problem - people settling in for the journey with a 6 pack could be a little troublesome...if they're that way inclined.
how rediculous
the whole point of banning smoking was that other people were getting lung cancer through passive smoking. its not as if drinking affects anyone else.
really?
You didn't like it when you were banned now
did ya?
What are you talking about?
Get a job.
What am I talking about?
What are YOU talking about.
I'm talking about alcohol on public transport.
You're talking about me being banned (and implying I was bothered). I don't get the link.
Banning is no good
I find people
who play music on their mobiles and scream and shout on public transport an awful lot more anti social than someone who fancies a can of stella after a hard days graft.
I agree with this 4eva IDST
Boris will sort out this problem at the same time.
Win win.
How?
I've never seen anyone who is drinking on public transport listening to music on their mobile.
i've done it
once...it was probably an 80's power ballad....can't remember what i was drinking...
How's that then?
No
drinking on the tube should not be banned. Antisocial behaviour, whether drink-fuelled or not, should be more heavily policed.
Not much of a policy!
Sounds nice; is of little practical use.
Drinking on the tube is not antisocial, and is not a problem; drunks on the tube are antisocial, and a problem. You don't get drunk over the course of a tube journey; you get drunk before. Mdash has pretty much already said this (including that it's a sensible idea with respect to 'proper' train journeys). It sounds like a sly case of misdirection: improved (manned) security on trains and platforms is the way to tackle this, not
Boris will also supply security on public transport.
Win win!
Show me the money CG!
can I look at this stuff on his website?
Well
one of Boris's little facts he likes to trot out (because it's a good one), is that next increment on Ken's PR budget (not the whole thing, just the anual increment) would fund 440 Police Community Support Officers.
Some people cast them off as 'plastic policemen' but in terms of being a visual deterent, they would have their uses on public transport. And should trouble escalate, they can have a full police officer waiting at the next bus/tube stop with no trouble at all.
So, do you want to see more posters of Ken's face round London or police officers (plastic or otherwise) manning public transport and going someway to stopping the plahue that is anti-social behaviour?
I'm sure, though I haven't really lookied, that you can find this kind of stuff at www.backboris.com
Or a fraction
of the staff needed and buses for these "new routmasters" that Boris would bring in.
I've had
another quick look at his site and it's good to see that he's talking specifics in many areas now. When all's said and done, and whoever gets in, I'd rather see a tough race in this, as it forces everyone to step up their game.
I'm waiting-and-seeing on the tube security issue; Boris' previous pledge was that those 440 PCSOs were for policing the buses, and it's not at all clear that they'll be assigned to the tube too at the moment. More importantly, I would say that they're better needed on the buses; if he's going to suggest that both need security, let's see that number beefed up a bit.
Colinzealuk has really captured the issue about funding though; it's one thing to say that you're going to shift money from PR into support officers. What's to say he wouldn't syphon that back in the next time an election year comes around, however? Doesn't it smack of a soundbyte? Is 440 the correct number (that is, the optimal number estimated by research) of new support officers to hire?
I'm okay with PCSOs, though, in spite of some vaguely Orwellian concerns ('community watchers'). They seem to be great route for people thinking about getting into the police, and are very useful given the right amount of support.
In Brighton its not legal to drink on the streets
or on public transport, so Meh
discuss amongst yourselves
But how many people
stick to that?
I never see people drinking on busses
People drink on the streets still but its rare to see people doing it outside of the center or near pavillion gardens
I assume trains are a different kettle of fish?
There is a difference between stood drinking in a group and having a can on the way to somewhere and I suspect it gets treated differently.
Mind you, Brighton and London are not particularly comparable
People drink on buses all the time in Brighton
Go on the 25 any time of night and you see students drinking.
Basically
Its a cheap policy aimed at not offending anyone and maybe picking up a few votes along the way?
Not sure how it could or would be policed.
no
it would sometimes take me nearly an hour to travel across london to meet friends for a night out and having a mix up on the way was perfect for saving money.
and what alxcck said about it not affecting anyone else whatsoever
it doesn't.
ban anti socail behaviour, not people like me minding my own business having a drink to save money and put me in the moood.
As ever with these things, there will be innocent victims.
I don't doubt that you could drink on the tube 7 nights a week and not cause a problem; i would be the same.
But not all Londoners are sensible, well raised people.
Unfortunately, people like us will have to 'suffer' for the greater good.
but i dont think it will stop the kind of people who cause trouble
because if you're going to be a yobbish twat, you're going to be an anti social twat
oops that was meant to say the same thing wtwice
i have a headache
Well ono that basis, we shouldn't bother trying to tackle crime.
There will always be criminals, so why bother trying to stop them? If you really want to rob ahouse, you're going to do it regardless of the law, so we should just let them get on with it?
It's true, if someone wants to get drunk and be a dick, there's not too much you can do about it, but you can at least TRY and put some sort of deterence in place and at least try and stop them from being a drunk dick in too public a place.
Simply banning it
isn't a deterent without the policing. And if you're policing it properly, you may as well ban anti-social behaviour - which is the issue - instead.
summed up pretty nicely
I'm not sure anyone's saying
we shouldn't be trying to tackle this stuff. But at a time where these two guys are attempting to out-policy each other to curry our favours, I think we're justified in not being all too impressed when one of them tries to 'sell' us something that sounds ineffectual. This isn't a "you're with us or you're against us" kinda thing. I'm just not a fan of officials who think bans are catch-all solutions (if he expands on the policing strategy, then fair play to the man).
I think you're a nazi
And yet I agree with almost everything you say. Hmm.
I was once stopped from drinking on a routemaster by the damn conductor. I was glad, because I knew it would stop the poor from doing the same, which is a Good Thing.
That's exceedingly charitable of you
^^^
what about people who are already pissed and anti social?
GAY FOR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
yet you want to stop people drinking and smoking?
What are you, NU LABOUR OR SOMETHING?!!11
what about my freedom
not to be vomited on or get in a fight with some twattish drunk on the bus home from work !?
It shouldn't be the Government's role to interfere
(and the examples you mentioned may or may not happen regardless of a ban on drinking on public transport)
No.
It's good for us skint people to have a wee bevy on the way somewhere.
I think it's already banned in Glasgow, but there's always ways round it anyway.
I'm all in favour of general
anti-trampish behaviour rules.
I also think that the drug dealers on Camden High Street would benefit from the application of a 'No Country For Old Men' style bolt gun to the head. Please can Boris fix this for me too?
I think it's a good idea in theory,
although as others have said, I'm not sure how it could be policed.
Someone mentioned the smoking ban earlier saying it was only anti-social because of the risk of lung cancer.
Well it's also not particularly nice for people to be blowing smoke in your face anyway, nevermind lung cancer.
BUT
i love drinking on the bus :(
it better not happen
it's conveniant
your going to be travelling anyway
it just means more time later drunk
it doesn't affect anyone if your not drinking too much
and there's horrible sober people on the tubes anyway
Yeah blud, drinking is, like, way cool.
hah
cos that's how i speak like
DICK
I friggin hate these stupid ideas
When are people gonna realise, its the person that is anti social, not the beer.
What about anti social behaviour from people who haven't been drinking?
Or if they wanna highlight drinkers, what about those that have just come from the the pub.
Next they'll be banning hooded tops. Because hooded tops can steal.
bullshit
Youve missed the point. i personally would not be in favour of banning it, but to say that drunk people are not more antisocial than sober people is just wrong. Therefore if you are tackling anti social behavoir as a whole, you have to look at the root of the problem, as well as factors which make it worse, one of which is alcohol.
What about
the huge amount of drunk people who are no bother whatsoever?
Like i said
im not in favour of banning it. But its foolish to say that alcohol doesnt make anti social behavoir more common and worse.
Yeah ok, i agree with you on that
but I can't see an outright ban being fair. It wouldn't be fair at all. Like I said, the huge amount of drunk people who are no bother. Or the person starting their evening with the odd can. Or the commuter on his way home. They wouldn't be allowed to drink, but a group of guys can walk out of the pub after an all dayer and jump straight on. And there's people being anti-social who haven't had a drop.
They're just trying to save cash and get out of policing it properly.
Jeez
Let's not overplay the situation.
Noone's saying you can never drink or that you can't drink in your home or in the pub. It's just saying, when you're on the tube, as a courtesy to others, it would be preffered if you didn't drink.
I would imagine it's for litter purposes as much as anything else. What with there being no bins on the tube, what do you do with your empty can? It would be nice to think that people would take it with them, but it's a safe bet most wouldn't.
Well...
thats not what I was thinking of.
My points were aimed not just at the tube but at a more widespread ban of drinking on public transport. As someone who travels alot like this, i would be severely affected.
I think a main point about the tube would be that it could be dangerous for those who've had too much to drink. In that respect I would understand.
I think that's a little too far in the other direction.
Security and police work is mostly using heuristics, risk assessment and rules of thumb to allocate resources in the most efficient and useful way possible. It's far more likely that there's going to be trouble on a tube full of drunkards on a friday night than at 1.30 on thursday afternoon, so it's reasonable enough to suggest that extra measures on public transport would be a good idea. Of course, drunkenness shouldn't be seen as the only risk factor.
D