Nanny state needs reality check

So, the latest genius suggestion from Downing Street is to set minimum prices on beer and spirits, allegedly in a bid to reduce binge drinking.

Personally, I'd have thought the current economic crisis -- a large part of the blame for which can be lain at that same doorstep -- is already placing near-fatal pressure on the brewing and distillery industries. Only two weeks ago, this column highlighted the sudden collapse in bar and pub revenue over the past twelve months.

The truth is, most of the idiots staggering around town and city centres on a Saturday evening are already well on the well to inebriation before they even leave home, but it's easier for Gordon Brown and his gang to blame the bartenders rather than explore the inability of some individuals to exercise an iota of self-control.

Anyway, rather than set minimum prices, how about enforcing maximum tariffs?

Last night, I enjoyed several pints of Titanic's Iceberg at the Spread Eagle in Acocks Green. It's one of the Stoke-on-Trent independent's heavier brews, but ideal to buffer you against a rainswept Sunday evening -- and at £1.69 a go, excellent value. Head down south, though, and you could easily double that pricetag; I was even charged nearly three quid for a pint in Manchester last month.

It's high time this government left off the kneejerk vote-hustling and half-arsed social engineering, and tried calling a halt to Rip-Off Britain.