Leading Article: Gone shopping

Gone shopping

PLANS TO "reward" those informing on drink-drivers will raise a ragged cheer in populist quarters. Wiser and cooler heads should be more wary. Given Britain's problem of "neighbour rage", which this week saw even a former Downing Street press secretary cautioned by police, it is more than likely that giving money to sneaks would lead to a rash of hoax calls, like that which recently afflicted the Deputy Prime Minister in his Hull constituency. Forget the nation of shopkeepers: we seem all too eager to become a nation of shoppers.