Another SNP bid to erode our freedoms

THE SNP’s enthusiasm for intervention in the private lives of Scots shows no sign of abating.

Ministers continue to ride roughshod over the freedom of the individual. From the appointment of a state guardian for every child to its long and costly battle to be allowed to impose minimum prices on alcohol, the Scottish Government has interfered in areas where it should have no place.

It is not – in a free and democratic society – the role of government to micromanage the lifestyles of every citizen. Yet the SNP’s totalitarian instincts mean the right to privacy to which we are all entitled is being eroded.

The latest manifestation of this ‘Big Brother’ approach to running Scotland is a plan by ministers to give civil servants the right to quiz Scots about their drinking habits.

This move could see council workers with no medical qualifications asking intimate lifestyle questions and offering advice which has not been requested.

We do not underestimate the problems that can be caused by the abuse of alcohol. It is quite right and proper that doctors and nurses should be alert to issues affecting patients and for them to take appropriate steps in encouraging those whose drinking has become problematic to seek help.

But it is entirely wrong for unqualified civil servants to be encouraged to intervene in something which, bluntly, is none of their business.

The Scottish Government’s tendency towards state intervention conceals a lack of sharp policy thinking. Time and again, ministers employ a steamroller strategy.

As one civil liberties campaigner puts it, this is ‘busybody prying’.

And every time a new ‘catch-all’ policy emerges, the freedoms we should all enjoy by right are further chipped away.