Has she gone off the rails? SNP’s Mhairi swigs lager on train... despite Nicola’s ban on boozing
NATIONALIST MP Mhairi Black flouted her own government’s booze ban by swigging from a can of beer on a train.
Ms Black was caught on camera returning from a football match on Friday night.
A video posted online shows her laughing and joking amid a group of supporters on a ScotRail train while drinking from a can of Tennent’s lager.
The Scottish Government introduced a blanket ban on drinking alcohol on trains in November 2020 as part of Covid measures.
Now the 27-year-old has apologised for breaking the rules after video of the incident appeared online last night.
Rail passengers who ignore the ban can be ordered off the train and may even face a £60 fine.
MSP Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservatives’ deputy spokesman on community safety, said: ‘The train booze ban has been in place for 18 months and there’s no exemption for SNP politicians just because their team got beaten – although, as a passenger who has to regularly endure the SNP’s nationalised trains, I can’t really blame this MP for wanting a drink.’
Ms Black, who is the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South and an avid Partick Thistle fan, was pictured on Friday evening after her team’s 3-1 away defeat at Ayr United.
Alcohol was previously banned on ScotRail trains between 9pm and 10am but it was extended to 24 hours as one of many measures which were aimed at stopping the spread of Covid.
The Scottish Government nationalised the railway service at the start of last month.
However, there have been recent calls for the alcohol ban to be eased, especially as most other Covid restrictions have been lifted, as ScotRail attempts to encourage commuters out of cars and back onto public transport.
Transport Scotland has said the ‘potential reintroduction of alcohol on Scotland’s railway services’ needed to be considered ‘within the broader context of passenger and staff safety’.
Graham Simpson MSP, the Scottish Conservatives’ transport spokesman, said last month: ‘ScotRail should engage with passengers and find out if they want this blanket booze ban
‘No exemption just because their team lost’
maintained. If the ban is to be lifted, then this must be done in line with what users wish as we encourage them back onto services.
‘Our railway staff must also be given the necessary resources to tackle any irresponsible drinking.’
Jane Ann Liston, of passenger group Railfuture Scotland, added: ‘It sounds as if ScotRail don’t want to bother bringing back catering at all on the trains.
‘It took them off for Covid. But they now seem to think, “Well, we will not bother”.
‘Now, I ask myself, is that going to attract people out of their nice
comfortable cars and back onto trains? I fear that the answer will be no.’
Ms Black has previously spoken out about her fondness for Tennent’s lager.
Prior to being elected as a 20year-old in 2015 – making her the youngest MP for almost 200 years – she had tweeted that she fantasised about ‘putting the nut’ on Labour councillors and posted: ‘Woke up beside half a can of Tennent’s and a full pizza and more money than I came out with. I call that a success!’
She also once described vodkabased alcopop Smirnoff Ice as a ‘drink of the Gods’ and courted controversy for tweeting: ‘I really f ***** hate Celtic.’
She later joked in a magazine interview: ‘It’s all true about Celtic, but I hate Rangers more.’
Last night, a spokesman for Ms Black said: ‘Mhairi has been reminded of the rules and she has apologised.’
In 2019, Labour MP Diane Abbott was heavily criticised for drinking a £2 can of Marks & Spencer mojito on a London overground service, despite a Transport for London ban on alcohol.