I'll raise a small glass to Boris's grand plan

The new Mayor is offering a solution: stop the drinkers getting on in the first place. Critics will say it's impossible to police, and they have a point - what if you're already drunk? And is anyone really going to confiscate wine bottles you're taking to a nice dinner party?

I'd guess the results will come gradually, not overnight. By officially declaring it antisocial to booze on trains and buses, it will, like smoking, become less and less acceptable. Yes, it's harder to stand up to an aggressive drunk than reason with a sober smoker, but the message will sink in and the public become less tolerant.

That's a welcome step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned. We've become far too accepting of drunken behaviour, both on and off public transport. From condoning a degree of harmless merriment in the street, we've ended up with the undertow of menace that accompanies mob boozing.

When Arsenal play at home, I'm used to running a baying gauntlet of drunk fans on Holloway Road, kept just in check by dozens of vans of police in riot gear. And sunny bank holiday weekends, like the one we've just had, are a signal to many to crack open a six-pack of lager and swagger down the road drinking it. By midnight the streets are no-go areas, and in the morning you have to pick your way through kebabs, broken glass and vomit to buy the Sunday papers.

An outright ban on drinking in public places - as they have in American towns - is a step too far for most of us civil libertarians. And it's just a very English thing to do, put on a dress and get sozzled in a field. I've lazed away many a day in a pleasant park with cold wine and warm sandwiches, and the last thing I'd want is a po-faced park attendant taking the fizz out of my picnic.

The flipside to this is the increasing numbers of people swigging booze in our town centres. A ban might not be the answer, but it's worth looking at. In my native Scotland many of the major cities outlawed "irresponsible" drinking in public years ago - it's transformed the atmosphere in parts of Glasgow from threatening to civilised.

If Boris can pull off even a small change in our attitudes and make buses and Tubes more pleasant late at night, then I'll drink (in moderation) to that.