Crying over spilt lager

Now don't get me wrong. I am no fan of binge drinking. I will admit to the odd bender in my lifetime - drinking vintage port from a flower vase is one hazy recollection - but we are now a society out of control.

The fact that any visitor to Britain who finds himself in any city centre after dark could be forgiven for thinking we are a nation populated by foul mouthed yobs and yobettes is a national disgrace.

Sadly though, anyone who has experienced the delights of tripping daintily around the pools of vomit, missing drunks urinating in doorways and avoiding eye contact with any of the sub-species which seem to populate night time Britain would know it is an easy mistake to make.

So what do our MPs, bless them, come up with to end the culture of mindless drinking? Ban happy hours in pubs and ban cheap booze in supermarkets and no doubt next on the agenda, when we have been softened up a bit, will be an increase in duty for our own good.

I have said it before and I will say it again, in the rest of Europe booze is cheaper then we can even dream of - why else would people still be taking Trannies over to Calais on booze cruises? Bars are open all day long and in most city centres you can walk through late at night and find them populated by ordinary people enjoying the evening.

They are not drunk, fighting, spewing, swearing, shouting mindless abuse and the women do not look as if they either could not afford a full set of clothes or have lost their price list.

Happy hour was a marketing ploy to boost custom on slow nights but cheap alcohol in supermarkets hits everyone who enjoys a drink from families to pensioners. Force increases in prices and the rest of us have to suffer for the few - while of course the supermarkets and brewers coin in extra profits. The latter and its tax potential, I am sure, not going unnoticed by the treasury as it tries to raise the cash for all Gordon's promises.

Perhaps if MPs really wanted to do something to help they could start by asking themselves how it is that we have produced a generation of uneducated, uncouth drunks while the rest of Europe manages to maintain a society which has communities, families and a social structure.

They also have a visible police presence which nips any signs of trouble in the bud without worrying about political correctness, human rights or the Chief Constable's New Labour credentials.

If our MPs look hard enough they could well find the answer lies with the 646 people around them and forty years of social meddling.