It’s taken the Government 10 long years to realise the mistake they made bringing in 24-hour drinking and now they are asking local authorities to ‘look at’ the situation!

You can imagine a few of those in power sipping coffee, chatting on the terrace at Westminster ‘I say chaps, got a brain wave. Now, why don’t we scrap our Silly Billy licensing laws and be like those continental café people cross the Channel?

‘You know the ones I mean, those bureaucrats who make all our rules and regulations’.

‘What a jolly good idea’ was the reply.

So they foolishly brought it in without any thought to the long-term knock-on effects that it would have on ordinary people’s lives, the economy and the way our young people would behave.

There has been a decline of our night life whilst pubs and clubs are closing at a rate of knots, taking with them all the subsidiary trades.

And the loss of jobs is immense, but there’s a more pertinent loss, that of the community base and the sense of order and continuity.

And to cap it all – and again without any consultation – they brought in the blanket smoking ban.

There should have been a compromise with places for those who choose to smoke, giving people a personal choice with what is a perfectly legal activity.

I was in London recently and the number of people who were standing smoking outside offices was astounding.

One pub I went in seemed empty until I found that everyone was out the back with the smokers.

Now, our young folk don’t go out until late, stay out late, drink too much, as they haven’t learnt the craft with their mums and dads as the older generations did. Then, having a pint with your dad was a Rite of Passage.

This ‘freedom’ had many long-term affects. It’s divided the generation and the sexes as they now go out in big groups of girls and boys.

When the pubs closed at 11pm young folk went up to a disco and paid to go in. There was music, dancing and socialising and because drinks were expensive, it moderated their intake.

Older people had their own ‘after hours’. It was exciting and very well controlled by the licensees.

For this island the licensing hours worked. We’re not continentals, we’re more like the hard-drinking Danes, Swedes and Norwegians.

Those in power imagined people sitting outside ‘en families’ sipping coffee and wine, watching the world go by.

Well, let’s face it, we just haven’t got the climate or the culture.

If we are to solve the problem then, it’s back to the dart board lads. Oh! Sorry, I meant the drawing board lads!