RIP Happy Hour

A group of Britain's biggest pub chains has decided to scrap 'happy hours' and other cheap drinks promotions, depriving us of the opportunity to get merry on the cheap. Cheers!

A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association, whose members run 32,000 pubs, told the BBC: 'There's been a lot of debate around binge drinking and antisocial behaviour, and happy hours have been highlighted as one of the reasons for this. That's why we decided to take this step.'

It's hardly a voluntary move, though. The drinks industry has been getting hammered by the government for some time now. It's all part of the drive to get us to 'drink responsibly' - which is something of an oxymoron. The whole point of drinking is to let go of our inhibitions and behave in a manner that might not be acceptable in other circumstances. The popular presentation of heavy drinking is of a vortex of uncontrolled lust and violence - the reality is that most people just have a good laugh, egg each other on to do daft things, and occasionally get laid.

Making drinks a bit more expensive is unlikely to have a major impact on the long-established British tradition of getting legless - it will just leave us with a bit less cash in our pockets the morning after. When will our po-faced, straight-laced politicians stop trying to run our lives and let us get on with the serious business of enjoying ourselves? Not so much 'happy hour' as 'oh, happy day'.

Pubs to scrap Happy Hour drinks, BBC News, 23 May 2005