The other talking point over here is changes (or proposed changes — I’m not clear — just catching up) to the laws that regulate sale of liquor. Under new rules, pubs can, if their applications are approved, stay open 24 hours.

This has caused much debate. At present pubs have to throw their customers out at 11 o’clock, so at weekends the streets are suddenly flooded with mobs of drunks who have had to gulp down their last pint. (All too often it doesn’t stay down very long.)

Every nation has its own style of intoxication. The general run of Europeans like to get very mildly tipsy every day with a bottle of wine or a few beers over their evening meal. The British like to get blithering drunk once a week. The Russians like to get blithering drunk twice a day… and so on. I doubt the new rules will change this much. British — or at any rate, English — rulers have been grumbling about drunkenness since at least the 8th century. Even further back, in fact, the early Anglo-Saxons were noted for their addiction to “drinking, fighting, and singing.” It’s the national character; and with the stupid and poisonous multi-cultural project now swirling fast down the toilet over here, the Brits are going to become more fiercely protective of all aspects of their national character, even this one.