Scottish drinking

Your article headed "Scots drink 100 pints more a year than the rest of UK" (21 July) is a classic case of Scots putting themselves down.

Britain certainly has drinking problems, but your headline could just as easily have read "Rest of UK drink only two pints a week less than Scots".

Even at that it would have been inaccurate according to your own graphic, which clearly indicates that Wales and Scotland have virtually identical consumption levels.

This anomaly is heightened by the accompanying lead-in: "Anatomy of a national obsession; the drunk man of the UK?" (referring to Scotland).

It is further perpetuated in the opening paragraphs of the text, which also indicates a growth in the gap between Scotland and England (not the UK as stated) but that is accounted for by a decrease "south of the Border". Would that be starting at Gretna?

ROBERT DOW

Ormiston Road

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