How to save our nightlife after coronavirus

The one certainty about crisis is that it makes bad situations worse. Anyone working in restaurants, pubs, cafes and clubs that depend on alcohol sales will have noticed ominous developments before Covid-19 struck.

Like so much else that matters, government policy has had nothing to do with the cultural change. The drying out of Britain has been fuelled by changes the authorities never initiated: greater awareness of the dangers to health, the growth of British Islam with its religious prohibitions, and the young turning away from their parents’ addictions. 20 per cent of people said they did not consume alcohol in 2017. The amount drinkers reported consuming had fallen by around 16 per cent since 2004. During the lockdown, which you might think would drive many to booze, one in three told pollsters working for Alcohol Change (UK) that they were drinking less.

In contrast, our political culture remains drink-sodden, dominated as it is by baby boomers, who drink far more than the young do.