Scotland's war on alcohol (and COVID-19)

Nicola Sturgeon seems to think that alcohol consumption is the main cause of COVID-19. I've written about it for the Spectator: 

 

Who knows where the Scottish government’s war on drinking ends and its war on Covid-19 begins, but it is not difficult to see an element of Presbyterian zeal in Sturgeon’s latest crackdown. In Scotland, where temperance groups are funded by the state, minimum pricing for alcohol has been in force since 2018 and the SNP had alcohol advertising in its sights before the coronavirus intervened. Several countries, including South Africa and India, took advantage of lockdown to experiment with prohibition in the spring. It would be no great surprise if Sturgeon didn’t view a sixteen day ‘circuit breaker’ as an opportunity to sober the Scots up a bit.

 

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