UKIP pledges to raise drink-drive limit in Scotland

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has promised to repeal the smoking ban in pubs and raise the drink-driving limit in Scotland ahead of the country’s upcoming elections.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage

Unveiling his party’s “Shake Up Holyrood” manifesto this week, Farage argues that recent changes to the law in Scotland have “pushed people away from their local” and into supermarkets, where they can buy cheap alcohol to consume at home.

“The local pub is a cultural tradition which moderates drinking in a social environment” read its manifesto. “UKIP will make changes to the law to allow people to head down to their local for a pint.”

Among other proposals, UKIP has  said it would allow pubs to introduce smoking rooms, believing the smoking ban to have had a “disastrous effect” on the pub industry.

“It has led to an increase in smoking at home in front of children and a reduction in people meeting face to face adversely affecting society in a negative manner”, claim UKIP. “UKIP understands the concerns surrounding smoking in public places but several systems are used abroad which do away with the negative impact on non-smokers, while at the same time allowing smokers to enjoy their pint.”

The smoking ban, which made it an offence to smoke in any wholly or substantially enclosed public space in Scotland, came into force on 26 March 2006.

The party also wants to change the drink driving limit back to 80mg per 100ml of blood – the same as the rest of the UK. The limit was lowered in 2014 from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood.

“Having a varied limit makes no sense and 80mg is low enough to deter reckless behaviour”, the manifesto reads.

The Scottish elections will take place on 5 May.