Drinking less to our health

Are some licensees drinking in, as well as managing, the last-chance saloon? Gordon Macdiarmid, chairman of Scotland's biggest licensing board, seems to think so. Glasgow's board is no different than any other in possessing powers to award and withdraw licences to sell alcohol. But he believes Glasgow's board, and by extension every other board in this country, is operating with hands tied behind collective backs in relation to tackling a development he and others believe is contributing to Scotland's worsening drink problem. There is no shortage of figures to show how heavy a toll excessive alcohol consumption is taking across generations, classes and the gender divide.