Alcohol campaign - 'An awful lot of money on old message'

HOW many people these days really don't know how much alcohol they are drinking when they sup a glass of wine or spirits at home?

If they have done as little as read the label on the bottle and paid the slightest bit of attention to the numerous health campaigns of recent years then they will have at least a fairly good idea.

And, frankly, anyone who has not bothered to do even that is hardly going to change their ways just because a free plastic beaker is thrust in their hand.

The worst thing about the Scottish Government initiative we reveal today is that an awful lot of money has been spent on simply reinforcing an already well- established message.

At a time when politicians are lining up to tell us how little money there is to spare, there are numerous other preventative measures on which 300,000 of health funds could have been better spent, such as better screening for those with a genetic predisposition to heart disease, for example.

These plastic beakers look like nothing more than a gimmick designed to show "new" thinking by someone desperately trying to justify their own job and budget.

But sadly we all know these cups will end up either being thrown in the bin or gathering dust in a cupboard - which is exactly what should have happened to this plan.

Time will tell

The efficiency drive is one of the oldest tricks in the political book.

Having promised in opposition to cut 12 billion by slashing bureaucracy, David Cameron is just the latest politician to find the reality of such cost-cutting is never quite so straightforward once you are in power.

So we should be forgiven for adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards Labour's pledge to protect under-threat services in the Capital - including school crossing patrols and grants to leisure centres and community groups - by making 2.3 million in back room savings at the council.

But there can be no doubting some of the party's ideas really are on the money.

The city surely can't sustain 2m-a-year spending on communications staff right now. And earmarking the council's answer to Pravda, the Outlook propoganda sheet, and its Magnet staff magazine for closure - saving 350,000 a year - proves they are ready to grasp the nettle when it comes to tackling waste.