Even professors are knocking our pubs
The media's attack on '24-hour opening' lays the blame for today's drinking problems squarely at the door of the battered and bruised British pub. Now even illustrious professors are getting in on the act.
I wrote a piece in The Guardian criticising the media's obsession with the new Licensing Act and pointed out that the majority of pubs are likely to stick with their existing hours when the law changes in November. I said despite a similar media campaign in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when first all-day and then Sunday afternoon openings were introduced, the consumption of alcohol had declined.
I was taken to task by Professor Martin Plant, an expert in alcohol addiction. He said I had got my facts wrong and drinking had increased since the 1980s. Liberalising licensing laws, he concluded, was akin to throwing petrol on a bonfire.
But it was the professor who had got his facts muddled. I was referring to the consumption of alcohol in the on-trade. Official figures from the British Beer & Pub Association support my case.
In 1988, when all-day opening came in, 81.8% of alcohol in Britain was consumed in pubs and other on-trade licensed outlets. By 2004, the figure had declined to 60%.
Over the same period, consumption of alcohol increased from 8.01 litres per head of the population to 9.4lt.
Professor Plant is right to say total drinking has increased since 1988, but wrong to suggest the problem will get worse if pubs are allowed to open for longer. The evidence of the past 17 years shows there has been a dramatic cultural change in Britain. We are now drinking far more alcohol at home and it is that fact that should give both eminent professors and the jaundiced media food for thought.
Not only are people consuming more alcohol in the privacy of their homes, but they are also drinking stronger alcohol. In 1988, we consumed 247.1 pints of beer a year per head of population. By 2004, that figure had fallen to 212.9 pints.
Over the same period, consumption of cider rose from 11.9 pints a year per head to 22.1 pints in 2004. Wine drinking almost doubled, from 6.8 litres per head in 1988 to 12.4lt in 2004.
Spirits showed a small increase, from 2.2lt per head in 1988 to 2.3lt in 2004 while alcopops, breezers and coolers rose from 0.4lt in 1990 (the first year with data for the sector) to 6lt in 2004.
I accept that alcopops, breezers and spirits are drunk in pubs and at home, but wine drinking is predominantly a home experience.
Professor Plant is right to be concerned by the increase in consumption and the damage this can cause to people who regularly over-indulge.
But rather than joining in the media witch hunt against pubs, he should turn his attention to the dangers of unregulated sales from off-licensed premises and supermarkets, which are fuelling the take-home trade to the detriment of pubs.
My local supermarket is draped with a large banner advertising several hundred wines at less than £3 a bottle. The shelves of all supermarkets are packed with nationally branded lagers and beers sold at almost giveaway prices. When a major sporting event, such as World Cup football matches, are screened on television, it is almost impossible to move through the supermarket as a result of the ceiling-high boxes of Stella, Carlsberg, Carling and other national brands being offered at knock-down prices.
The simple-minded and ignorant attacks on pubs conveniently ignore the fact that drinking in on-trade outlets is regulated and monitored. Licensees who allow their premises to be abused by drunks and hooligans can lose their licences.
There are no such restrictions where supermarkets and other off-trade outlets are concerned. It is the owners of supermarkets that are the most enthusiastic supporters of the Licensing Act because they will be able to sell drink on a 24-hour basis and there will be no squads of police outside to check who is buying the cheap booze.
Pubs are the best safeguard against heavy drinking. I offer this advice - free and gratis - to both Professor Plant and The Daily Mail.
