It is neither illegal to buy or drink alcohol in this country, therefore it is not a crime or anti-social behaviour if a breathalyser reading shows that a person has been drinking.
What concerns me about Boris Johnson's attempt to erode our civil liberties, is that he claims to have racked his brains to come up with this crazy scheme. There are certain offences whereby a citizen can be prosecuted for example, drunk and disorderly conduct or driving under the influence of drink. When these occur the citizen is subject to due process of law, and a sanction is imposed for the offence or offences committed. It is unlawful to punish again and again and again for the one offence. What Boris is attempting to do is make it a crime to simply have a drink, strict liability, and the person who has had the drink does not need to have shown that they have been drunk and disorderly, or driving under the influence of drink. To add insult to injury, he is expecting citizens to pay for the drink police to test whether the citizen has had a drink.
Might I strongly suggest that Boris goes back to the drawing board on this one?
1 comment:
I never thought I would agree with you. This has got to be an exception.
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