Diageo, the owner of Guinness stout, is scaling back plans to build a €650m brewery in Dublin and may scrap them altogether as global beer sales continue to fall. The brewery said yesterday it was undertaking a "re-evaluation" of its brewing investments in Ireland - The Financial Times
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith yesterday promised a new code of practice to tackle binge drinking as she blasted at "all you can drink" offers. She said there had been too many cases where the drinks industry's voluntary code had not worked. But she faced backbench warnings about the risk of further controls driving even more pubs out of business -The Guardian
Wetherspoons released a trading statement that reveals like-for-like sales were up by 2.6 per cent for the 12 weeks up to last weekend compared with the same time last year. JD Wetherpoon has also axed its dividend and stopped corporate spending as a result of fears that it will be unable to rearrange a loan of nearly £100 million in September - The Times
An off duty policeman was left stunned after a Tesco store stopped him buying a bottle of wine because of an under-21s binge drinking campaign. PC Tony Brown, 23, showed his warrant card but was told he couldn't have the wine because his partner, who was with him, was 18. PC Brown said: "I think they should have used common sense. It was a £9 bottle of wine for a quiet night in." - The Sun
The Daily Mirror and Sir Alan Sugar are urging readers to opt for home-grown products in a bid to boost British businesses and described supping a pint in a pub as the perfect close to a typically British day - The Daily Mirror