Infected no doubt by the ideas of Elizabeth Dole, some idiot charity in the U.K. has suggested that parents who permit their under-15s to drink alcohol should be sent to prison.

Blogger “Raedwald” is not impressed:

When I think back on all the good things in my life – all those brief little scenarios of joy and pleasure, the warm laughter of friends, the passion of lovers, the sudden stunning realisations that you are gazing at a scene of true beauty, the closeness of companions who have shared past danger – always in the scene somewhere is alcohol. The old French vintner who declared “A day without wine is like a day without Sunshine” had it spot on.
So you will understand why the news this morning that an organisation calling itself Alcohol Concern, no doubt comprised of characters formed from the rancid grey scum that rises from the bubbling cauldron of joyless interference in other people’s lives, declares that parents who allow under 15s to taste life’s nectar should be jailed, I am less than enthusiastic…If the meddling witch from Alcohol Concern who spoke on R4′s ‘Today’ earlier was mashed, fermented and distilled, aged in an oak cask with wormwood and scorpion tails, and bottled, what would the taste be? Bitter, no doubt. A hidden spiteful sting, perhaps not unpleasant if well diluted. A few drops then, in a Paris goblet, well swilled round to coat the glass, before half a gill of good Plymouth Gin is added. That would be perfect.

I don’t know Raedwald, but tonight I’m drinking to him. Read the whole thing, glass by your side, no, glass at your lips, drink down your throat.

Hat tip: The Last Ditch