This article was originally published in print on the 23rd March
Teviot. We’re all bitterly familiar with the gothic frame that plays host to our student union. But I’m certainly not alone in saying it’s never been my first choice for a drink. Edinburgh is hardly renowned for cheap pints but Teviot is taking the fucking piss with its £3.90 for a pint of Scotland’s real national drink. You try charging 4 quid for the west coast’s personal uisge beatha in any other part of Scotland and you’d get laughed out the pub; keep in mind you need to duck so the chair that comes sailing out after you doesn’t knock your few remaining brain cells out of commission.
Yet in our own capital city we’re expected to simply bend over and get shafted by the university’s Bezos-esque rapacious hunger for your daddy’s money. Meanwhile, less than a minute down the road, Southsider offers a student discount that’ll get you a pint of Glasgow’s finest for a mere £2.75. The Napier Student union, only a few more minutes away is 3 quid.
Yet not only does our own Student Union not offer a student discount, they charge an arm and a leg more than almost any other pub in stumbling distance. It’s time we had a student union we were proud of, not some poncy castle trying to pass itself off as an upmarket establishment. I am calling for a union with sticky floors! With stained tables! And where a pint costs less than a fucking Big Mac!
Image courtesy of Adam Losekoot