tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post5719484766963330303..comments2024-03-29T08:01:51.705+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: A controlled drinking environmentCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-86335974321333444092009-04-05T11:58:00.000+01:002009-04-05T11:58:00.000+01:00If the view taken is that the 2am fight by the cab...If the view taken is that the 2am fight by the cab rank is a result of pre loading on super market booze, and price controls are the answer, the danger is that when price controls are introduced and the 2am fights by the cab ranks continue, the price controls will find there way into the on trade. Conceding the argument on price, and ignoring cultural factors will see widespread price controls that affect every drinker.Alexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-23443130759945143382009-04-04T16:15:00.000+01:002009-04-04T16:15:00.000+01:00Very well said, Tandleman. I find that whenever CA...Very well said, Tandleman. I find that whenever CAMRA strays on to wider social issues it tends to shoot itself in the foot.<BR/><BR/>Maybe it would be better just sticking to the last of championing real ale and good pubs and keeping schtumm on general issues of alcohol policy. <BR/><BR/>Nobody expects the <A HREF="http://www.smws.co.uk/" REL="nofollow">Scotch Malt Whisky Society</A> to pronounce on such issues, do they?Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-53757739276600663012009-04-04T12:08:00.000+01:002009-04-04T12:08:00.000+01:00I think you are right on this one and CAMRA must t...I think you are right on this one and CAMRA must tread a very careful line here. (Not that I am a good champion of treading careful lines these days!)<BR/><BR/>The difficulty of championing pubs could be overcome by clearly linking it to the drinking of real ale, which is, after all, what they are there for. Getting mired in home drinking issues when CAMRA are happy to take advert money for bottled take home beers makes it look a bit woolly. Our kind of home drinking is OK, but other people's aren't etc. <BR/><BR/>There is indeed plenty of binge drinking in community locals and again given the government's ludicrously low "safe limits", CAMRA is in a cleft stick of supporting "irresponsible" drinking through what most (pub going) people would regard as a normal pub session.<BR/><BR/>It all seems hopeless in a way. When you see a full pub it should be a cause for celebration, but we are now being conditioned to think it is actually full of binge drinkers.<BR/><BR/>I used to be a bit sceptical about a war on drinking, but no longer. The evidence is all around us that there is one and it is not being won by drinkers.Tandlemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06804499573827044693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-2598787147186888622009-04-04T00:42:00.000+01:002009-04-04T00:42:00.000+01:00Absolutely, Paul. There are abuses in both on and ...Absolutely, Paul. There are abuses in both on and off-trades, but setting up a false opposition between them just plays into the hands of the anti-drink lobby.<BR/><BR/>You can't blame CAMRA for championing pubs, which after all are where real ale is sold, but there is a tendency to decry most (if not all) off-trade drinking as irresponsible, which is very wide of the mark and indeed somewhat offensive.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-22217420759719399382009-04-03T23:35:00.000+01:002009-04-03T23:35:00.000+01:00I couldn't agree more. CAMRA is digging itself a d...I couldn't agree more. CAMRA is digging itself a deeper and deeper hole with the stance it is taking over supermarket and off-licence sales, and is definitely viewing things through rose coloured spectacles, so far as the pub trade is concerned.<BR/><BR/>If they are not careful, they will end up playing into the hands of those who want draconian increases in the price of alcohol; one can't have one's cake and eat it as well!Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.com