Should our MPs and their staff be allowed to drink (alcohol) during their working day?

And there is a significant difference between having a glass of wine with a lunchtime meal and someone who is boozing.
Is there really. And how would you know whether they had ONE glass of wine or several?

Are they performing brain surgery, driving heavy machinery, piloting a plane, driving a bus or train. No they are not.

And yes there is a world of difference between a glass of wine with lunch and "boozing".

The continentals would think we are bonkers to be so puritanical.

Take a leaf from the Italians....

"A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine".

As in all things.....moderation is key.

I agree Derbyshirelass. Huge difference between the effect even one drink would have in some occupations compared with others.

Iam64 I like your idea of non-alcohol drinks. I bet No 10 wish they'd thought of that before they issued their statement.

Are they performing brain surgery, driving heavy machinery, piloting a plane, driving a bus or train. No they are not

No, they're just legislating for and administering the bl**dy country. Of course they can do it half pissed...

I'm intrigued as to why this topic has appeared here on this particular day. Can it have anything to do with all these recent revelations of top civil servants having a considerable number of work meetings during lockdown which involved alcohol?

They are public servants so they should not having alcohol on premises. Would you wish to be treated by a medic, police officer, teacher, civil servant, local government person if they had been drinking? No need.

A glass of wine is ok at lunch time but subsidised? Definitely not! Why should it be??

*MaizieD*
I'm intrigued as to why this topic has appeared here on this particular day. Can it have anything to do with all these recent revelations of top civil servants having a considerable number of work meetings during lockdown which involved alcohol?

I'm not sure. It's something that I have thought about in the past, but I'm not sure what made me start the thread today.
The recent revelations have certainly brought it back to the forefront of my mind though, so on reflection,that's probably the main reason for the timing.

MPs are not members of the Emergency services or looking after vulnerable people, but there are already people in all theses professions going into work well tanked up.

As I have said, it is either one rule for all or none at all, unless operationally necessary

Oh this is difficult. One drink for most people is enough with their work lunch - which I don’t object to but we all know that for some people they don’t stop at one and it must impinge on their work for the rest of the day.

We’ve all read more than enough recently about the behaviour of some MPs. Alcohol shouldn’t be allowed in any place of work under any circumstances. If employees wish to meet for a drink after work that’s fine.

Alcohol is not allowed in school. Even the Christmas dinner was served with non alcoholic drinks.
If I never had a drink during working hours, that would mean no wine when I’ve a load of prep or marking to do, so maybe a glass on Sunday lunchtime or Saturday evening.
‘I love the one rule for all or none at all’ idea. Perhaps someone could suggest how to enforce that during Covid. I’ve yet to see any consistent agreement about the rules for that.

I don’t understand what you mean M0nica because there already is a rule in all public sector organisations including the Ambulance Service, staff are disciplined if they are found drinking on duty.

DerbyshireLass The continentals would think we are bonkers to be so puritanical.
Who cares what the 'continentals' think? They are very different from us and it is a historical fact that Brits have no stop button when it comes to alcohol, so it's best they don't have any around whilst working.

But there are always those who because of a carefully hidden addiction will be drinking enough before they go to work to be inebriated on duty. heavy drinkers do not always smell of alcohol, especially if you plan it and time it.

We had a member of the family who effectively drank herself to death. We knew she enjoyed a drink when visitors came and probably had a drink in the evening, but she never smelled of alcohol and never showed any signs of inebriation and there was nothing to see around the house to suggest she was a heavy drinker. But the dustmen knew, they emptied the recycling bins and we worked out that she was drinking very nearly a bottle of whisky every day.

There are at this moment emergency workers, working while drunk, whether that is a dismissible offence or not.

I lived in a rural village in Essex. My Dr had a serious drink problem. I don’t know how many times his car was pulled out of a ditch or a field by the local garage. Wonderful Dr, though.

Imo there should be random drink and drug testing in all jobs. In which occupation would alcohol or drugs not adversely affect someone's ability to do their job properly?

MerylStreep

I lived in a rural village in Essex. My Dr had a serious drink problem. I don’t know how many times his car was pulled out of a ditch or a field by the local garage. Wonderful Dr, though.

The medical and legal professions are full of people who rely on alcohol to get by. I have known some. There comes a point when their bodies are so used to it they function better with it than without it.

Well I am half "continental" - Belgian in fact, so as usual I can always see both sides of any Brit - v - European discussion regarding cultural differences. My Belgian relatives would be truly astonished at some of the views on this thread.

Most of my Belgian relatives, their friends, neighbours, work colleagues etc have always tended to drink a small glass of red wine with their lunch every day.

Like the French and Italians they believe that red wine is good for the heart and that it helps to reduce cholesterol levels. My grandmother drank red wine every day till she died at 90, (not of heart disease) and my aunt who drinks red wine every day is 96 and as fit as a flea. Maybe they are on to something.

As I said it's all about moderation. Which brings me to your next statement when you say statement that Brits have no stop button.......to imply none of us have any self control is somewhat of a sweeping statement and rather insulting to the vast numbers of people who are perfectly able to moderate their drinking,

And Monica is spot on......there are plenty of functioning alcoholics out there, who drink after work at and weekends but who appear sober, who drive their cars to work and who are maybe performing in jobs they shouldn't be. Im sure most functioning alcoholics would fail the breathalyser the next morning.

Of course there are certain jobs which absolutely do require an clear head and a steady hand, I mentioned them in my initial post. I would like to think if I required a surgical procedure that all of the operating team, surgeon, anaesthetist, nurses etc were stone cold sober but given than many operations are performed early in the morning there is no cast iron guarantee that all team members would have zero alcholhol in their bloodstream.

Where do you draw a line. If you are going totally ban all alcholol then what about those on medications such as anti depressants, sleeping pills, strong painkillers. Most of these will dull the senses and have a long half life and can affect workplace performance. Will we ban those too.

Frankly I wouldn't be worried about a few MPs drinking some wine with their lunch, I would be more concerned with how much Bolivian marching powder some of them might be snorting.

Sorry for the typos, I was cooking supper whilst writing. Really must stop trying to multitask. ?

Maybe an incentive to ot drink would be to stop subsidising the in house bars and restaurants. Possibly do away with the bar altogether?

The French and Italians have always had a tipple at lunchtimes.
Plus service personnel too can partake if they want Fridays it's always lunch in the bar.
You need to trust the individual, not to blow it.

I think most MPs are just like us. Going about their normal business and with ordinary home lives.

There are 600 plus MPs. At most 100 get mentioned in the media outside their home constituency and mainly to do with their work and causes they support.,

These ordinary MPs, generally do not get drunk on cheap booze, do not snort cocaine or have affairs. In fact their lives are so law abiding no one takes any notice of them.

Chestnut

^And there is a significant difference between having a glass of wine with a lunchtime meal and someone who is boozing.^
Is there really. And how would you know whether they had ONE glass of wine or several?

... yes, there really is a difference.

And I'm talking generally, you know - in principle - not specifically about MPs in particular.

Drinking alcohol should not be allowed in a work context.
Especially not the elected politicians and their staff. Never.

It may well haver been acceptable 50 yrs ago but then so was smoking amongst doctors. It was never right.

I was shocked to see those scenes in the WM garden. Such a poor example to us mere proletariat.