Hamish Champ: Could an industry campaign see off the temperance lobby?

Pronouncements from the self-appointed guardians of the nation's livers last week moved some friends and me to mull over the importance of pubs and beer to our lives.

One of my mates reckoned that if he were to compile a list of his Top 50 Life Memories, the majority of them would feature a pub somewhere along the line. I agreed with him, wholeheartedly.

Naturally we discussed this in a pub, one on the banks of the River Thames which we later discovered had hosted Lord Nelson's assignations with Lady Hamilton - a fact that justified our conclusion that the Great British boozer has always been at the heart of most of our cultural and social, er, get-togethers.

So I love pubs and all that goes with them. And I am happy to man the barricades to defend the right of British pubs to sell booze responsibly. Hence I can add my voice to those who describe the latest attacks on alcohol consumption - which many in the media argue is the scourge of modern day Britain - as extreme.

However I suspect the unpalatable truth is that many people do​ think we have an alcohol problem in the UK. The uninformed see photos of drunken kids in the street and automatically think 'pub'.

Of course much of this is fed by the media. Of course supermarket promotions and pricing policies are a major issue. And of course many pubs that do good work for their communities get unfairly swept up in the maelstrom of blame for alcohol disorder.

The question has been asked: how should the licensed trade respond to the Alcohol Health Alliance and its ilk?

Some argue the trade should follow the supermarkets lead, eg, say as little as possible on the subject of alcohol retailing. Given the media's penchant for spinning stories, perhaps a dignified silence is​ the best tactic.

Personally, I disagree. I think the pub trade ought to go on the front foot.

I'd like to see a thumping great campaign - TV, internet, print media, radio, the lot - representing the whole industry and extolling the virtues of what pubs offer their local communities, their area, their county; the economy; heck, society in general.

Some may think such a strategy flawed; that it either smacks of a cartel or that by shouting about what pubs do from the rooftops - or TV screens - of the nation you merely bring about yet more unwanted attention from the health lobby. Plus there's the question of who'd pay for it!

Whatever your view, let's have a wider debate - one featuring as many representatives from the trade as possible - on the best way forward for the pub business.

And if ultimately the consensus is one of 'keeping schtum', so be it. But at least let's discuss the subject.