IT is fair to say that North Korea does not seem to be a country that is laugh a minute for its residents.

Living under the most oppressive set of state controls on the planet must take its toll, particularly in a nation that regularly faces starvation because of its collective farming policies that fail most years.

Residents cannot leave the country and all foreign goods are banned unless they come from neighbouring China, with even the likes of Google and Coca-Cola nowhere to be seen.

It would appear, on the face of it, to be the sort of country which would be one of the few in the world to ban all alcohol on trains and in stations.

But in fact, drinking alcohol is actively encouraged, with parks across the country teeming every Sunday with locals enjoying a drink, a laugh and even impromptu dances. In fact, to encourage drinking, every district in the capital Pyongyang has a ration card beer bar, where residents can receive up to 10 pints of free beer a month on rations.

Even though local beer is 40 per cent proof.

And why wouldn’t the government allow locals to drink on trains or public places? Every country in the world, apart from ones where Islam is the predominant religion, allow it.

All except for the Scottish Government, of course, which has continued the alcohol ban on all ScotRail services indefinitely despite the rail firm recommending it was lifted.

Even worse, officials used the Covid excuse to justify the rather bizarre decision.

In July, ScotRail announced a ban on drinking or visibly carrying alcohol would continue for the “foreseeable future”, extending rules introduced as part of Covid in 2020.

But emails revealed the decision was taken against a ScotRail board recommendation, which preferred a return to pre-pandemic rules.

This would have seen a ban on the consumption of alcohol between 9pm and 10am every day, rather than a blanket and indefinite ban.

The decision has also cost ScotRail around £200,000 due to the inability to sell alcohol.

Hospitality on ScotRail services is already loss-making, losing around £1.5 million a year, rising to £1.7m due to the alcohol ban.

ScotRail’s preference was to include rules for “dry routes” where anti-social behaviour was a problem and ensure “dry trains” around major events such as football matches.

This had been agreed at a board meeting on June 16.

But following a meeting with Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth on June 22, the plans changed to a full and indefinite ban.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “As a publicly-owned and controlled railway, it is important that ScotRail plays its part in delivering Scottish Government ambitions for its success.

“As part of this, ScotRail drafted options for reviewing the ban on alcohol and these were considered at a meeting with the Minister in June.”

The decision will come under review but the Transport Scotland spokesperson added: “In the meantime, everyone needs to be mindful that, while many of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted, Covid hasn’t gone away and the Scottish Government’s advisory guidance remains in place”.

These rather bizarre rules only gave ammunition to critics of the government and their apparent war on Scotland’s relationship with alcohol.

But do we really have a far worse relationship with alcohol than other countries, to justify such draconian crackdowns?

The evidence would suggest otherwise. Although it is far from OK, it is better than a lot of other countries, in terms of death rates.

According to the World Health Organisation, the UK ranks 69th in the global table, behind other European countries such as the Netherlands, France and Germany. It also lags well behind the three countries the Scottish Government most aspires to be – Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Of course we should never be complacent, but this constant attack on drinking will not really do any good and in fact could make things a whole lot worse.

There seems to be absolutely no benefit at all in stopping people from enjoying a wee glass of wine or G&T on the train to Aberdeen or on the flagship route between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Of course, public disorder blights our streets at the weekend and drink is the most common cause.

Banning drink on trains will, sadly, do nothing to end that particular blight.