Dave Thompson MSP

Highlands and Islands MSP Dave Thompson, who has led the campaign for the power to bring Scotland's drink-driving limit in line with the rest of Europe, has welcomed the decision to grant this power to the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Thompson (SNP) has repeatedly lobbied ministers in successive UK Government's to convince them of the need to reduce the maximum level of alcohol in the blood of drivers from 80mg per 100ml to 50mg, the level applied through most of Europe.

He also rallied support for the measure at Holyrood and last year was delighted when his campaigning convinced enough opposition politicians to back the commonsense measure and the policy secured a majority of the Scottish Parliament last year.

The Nationalist MSP's persistence finally paid off this week when the measure was one of a range of new powers conceded by the new Tory / LibDem coalition at Westminster.

“The SNP has long campaigned for this Parliament to have more powers and the power to save lives is essential," Mr Thompson said once the transfer of necessary powers was confirmed.

“Drink driving on Scotland’s roads is completely unacceptable.  The SNP has made clear we will lower the drink drive limit to deter people from drinking before driving and to tackle those people who think they are safe.

“No one should ever take a drink before driving and a 50mg limit will help to deter more people from taking that risk.  Had the previous Government moved quicker we could have seen the limit lowered this Christmas and potentially seen lives saved as a result.

“I will now be talking to the Scottish Government to ensure that as soon as the power is transferred we can cut the drink drive limit and start saving lives across Scotland.

Mr Thompson was also delighted to hear the devolution of the power had been welcomed by the country's largest public safety charity. RoSPA, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which immediately called on Scotland to "set an example" to the rest of the UK by using the new power to cut the drink-driving limit.

"Now the policy I have campaigned for is supported by  the British Medical Association (BMA) and BMA Scotland, the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RSPoA) and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) so I hope we can swiftly get on with making this extremely important change."

RoSPA road safety officer Kathleen Braidwood said: "Although we believe the best option is for a lower limit to be applied across the UK, we strongly support the transfer of powers to Scotland so it can lower its drink-drive limit to 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

"We hope this would set an example that the rest of the UK might follow."

Ms Braidwood added: "One in nine road deaths in Scotland involves someone who is over the current drink-drive limit.

"For many years, RoSPA has called for the current limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood to be lowered to 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, a move which should also be supported by wider powers for the police to conduct random breath tests."

She said Scotland had previously led the way in tackling drink-driving, with repeat offenders having to forfeit their vehicles.

Ms Braidwood added: "Lowering the drink-drive limit would enable Scotland to lead the way again."