Taking the Pledge Isn’t the Way to Cafe Culture
It was when Mark Drakeford attempted to pass his Public Health bill, with its woefully misguided proposals on vaping, that I first thought to myself here was a man who rarely - if ever - steps foot inside a public house or bar.
Five years on and that view has been reinforced by this latest lockdown. By effectively closing establishments in what is the most profitable part of the year, the time that helps the drinks and entertainment industries survive throughout the remaining 11 months, with little evidence on show to back up this decision, he has plunged many of us into an extremely uncertain 2021.
But what it means for us is Covid-Stoptober-Drakeford-Dryanuary, and then Drakeford again.
Those businesses - ours included - will begin next year facing a familiar foe: Dryanuary. There is effectively a tyranny of silence surrounding this event because, y'know, it's for charity. It's hard to rationally argue against raising money for good causes. But what it means for us is Covid-Stoptober-Drakeford-Dryanuary, and then Drakeford again
But it doesn't end there, because drinking beer is also under threat in the favoured stamping ground of the chattering classes: the opinion column. If you were to believe the odysseys to enlightenment penned over the past few months for these pages - and I don't - everyone began lockdown by drinking like a fish, got miserable and even mentally ill, before taking up running and cutting the demon drink completely from their lives. And so much the better they are for it, presumably because it allows them to inflict their insufferable sanctimony on the rest of us.
Yes, the rest of us. That's the people you and I meet for a drink every few weeks or so, have a laugh together, enjoy each other's company and then get up to work in the morning. Because we control how much we consume. Because we can go home at 10pm. Because we don't end up in a nightclub at 4am frantically searching for a line of coke to keep the party going.
Think about it: we've all had that night (minus the illegal drugs, officer), at least once. But hardly anyone you know ever does it on a regular basis. When they do, we think they're a bit of a dick, and an intervention sometimes follows. We have shit to do, bills to get paid. And it's impossible with a hangover the size of Jupiter.
It stands to reason that this all-or-nothing approach is the only solution on the table (or the bar). Modern online intransigence, where there are no shades of grey and the moderate voice is dead, behoves it. But it is supremely ironic to hear this coming from the very people who will frequently tell of their love for continental cafe culture, who are steeling themselves for next year, when making it to a sun kissed village square in Tuscany or Provence has been placed in jeopardy by Brexit.
The problems this country faces with binge drinking or alcoholism can't be halted by a blanket end to booze.
We can all agree that city centre drinking is a concern. This is reflected in licensing law. As a personal licence holder who is also responsible for Rival's premises licence, I am impressed by and fully in support of the statutory measures that are there to ensure that the overwhelming majority of us enjoy a safe night out.
But if the newly abstemious have decided that drink - any drink - is a Very Bad Thing, then this battle for a more sensible drinking culture is over. We have abandoned our city and town centres to the Morlocks. And this is a huge shame. For the first time, Castle Street in Cardiff this summer looked like a bona fide European city. It was beautiful. It would be a crime to abandon it to the kind of people who entertain themselves by smashing up all that nice new street furniture. Enough of us show up and make it clear that this kind of childishness is not cool, and the problem begins to go away.
Having a sensible drink is not one too many. It also puts money in the local economy - not just local breweries like ours, but all the bar and kitchen staff employed by chains, too. And if you're unsure whether you're buying from a business or an establishment that does not promote safe drinking, then those places are probably breaking the law.
The problems this country faces with binge drinking or alcoholism can't be halted by a blanket end to booze. The reasons behind those issues are many, varied and often individual. But one thing we can say is that excessive drinking is a symptom. It may become the problem but it rarely starts out that way, and it isn't solved by crowing about your achievements in print (quite why not walking to the supermarket for a bottle of something is an achievement beats me, but there you go).
Instead, it sets up fresh problems for those of us who are in the business of sensible, quality drinking and not the business of getting people pissed. Worse, it may have the unintended consequence of making going out for the evening more of an unpleasant spectacle than it can be, and that hurts everyone.
