Winning the argument on drink-driving

It looks like Iain Lees-Galloway has won the argument on drink-driving, with the government announcing that it will cut the blood-alcohol limit to 50 milligrams. Lees-Galloway's member's bill on the subject was drawn from the ballot back in September, and has not yet received a first reading. But by providing a concrete focus for debate (like, say, this), it forced the government to react and pushed them towards change. That change will be weaker than Lees-Galloway's proposals (fines and demerit points rather than criminal charges for those just over the new limit), but its still a significant improvement, and should result in much safer roads.

And again, its a nice illustration of the value of member's bills. Sure, they hardly ever pass - but when they work, they don't need to.