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Let's call time on the moral lectures – I'll drink to that Let's call time on the moral lectures – I'll drink to that
(7 months later)
Even if the case for drink pricing were not medically overwhelming, it is obvious that any decent person would prefer to be on the same side of an argument as Dr Sarah Wollaston, the admirable Totnes MP, as opposed to the wheedling teen-poisoners of the drinks industry. And yet, in the days when Cameron was also disposed to deplore the availability of cheap alcohol, in the same stern yet saddened voice in which he admonishes fat people who buy discounted chocolate oranges, memories of his Sunday drinks in one of those beamed country pubs where the daughters of the gentry are traditionally left in the lavatories just would not be repressed.Even if the case for drink pricing were not medically overwhelming, it is obvious that any decent person would prefer to be on the same side of an argument as Dr Sarah Wollaston, the admirable Totnes MP, as opposed to the wheedling teen-poisoners of the drinks industry. And yet, in the days when Cameron was also disposed to deplore the availability of cheap alcohol, in the same stern yet saddened voice in which he admonishes fat people who buy discounted chocolate oranges, memories of his Sunday drinks in one of those beamed country pubs where the daughters of the gentry are traditionally left in the lavatories just would not be repressed.
Equally, when the prime minister used to say, by way of a drink-pricing justification: "It's just too easy for people to get drunk on cheap alcohol at home", there would invariably flash upon that inward eye an image of Mr Cameron, "chillaxing" on a Sunday, after what his biographers estimated to be "a few glasses of wine". Photographs of Prince Harry and friends, as rat-arsed as the Cardiff legless on a weekend, have also indicated the likelihood of alcohol price hikes achieving the restrained national "cafe-culture" that Labour once promised with 24-hour drinking. It did not help, perhaps, that in 2001 Tony Blair trailed this sophisticated shift with the following text message: "cdnt give a xxxx 4 lst ordrs? vote labour on thrsdy 4 xtra time." (He was L8r to be found worrying that a nightly gn and tnc and two glasses of wine represented an incipient dk problem.)Equally, when the prime minister used to say, by way of a drink-pricing justification: "It's just too easy for people to get drunk on cheap alcohol at home", there would invariably flash upon that inward eye an image of Mr Cameron, "chillaxing" on a Sunday, after what his biographers estimated to be "a few glasses of wine". Photographs of Prince Harry and friends, as rat-arsed as the Cardiff legless on a weekend, have also indicated the likelihood of alcohol price hikes achieving the restrained national "cafe-culture" that Labour once promised with 24-hour drinking. It did not help, perhaps, that in 2001 Tony Blair trailed this sophisticated shift with the following text message: "cdnt give a xxxx 4 lst ordrs? vote labour on thrsdy 4 xtra time." (He was L8r to be found worrying that a nightly gn and tnc and two glasses of wine represented an incipient dk problem.)
But the evidence, as Theresa May said before she changed her mind, "is that if you need to deal with the problems that are caused by the excessive consumption of alcohol then you have to address the price of it". During a moment of confusion last week, when the Cameron U-turn looked almost like a reasonable acknowledgement that the impoverished are as much, if not more entitled to chillaxation as the brawlers in Westminster, I had to remind myself why Wollaston is still right. Studies are unanimous on the benefits of drink pricing, which include what new Canadian research describes as "immediate, substantial and significant reductions" in deaths attributable to alcohol abuse.But the evidence, as Theresa May said before she changed her mind, "is that if you need to deal with the problems that are caused by the excessive consumption of alcohol then you have to address the price of it". During a moment of confusion last week, when the Cameron U-turn looked almost like a reasonable acknowledgement that the impoverished are as much, if not more entitled to chillaxation as the brawlers in Westminster, I had to remind myself why Wollaston is still right. Studies are unanimous on the benefits of drink pricing, which include what new Canadian research describes as "immediate, substantial and significant reductions" in deaths attributable to alcohol abuse.
Not that rationality is that effective here. No matter how clear it is that Britain has a drink problem and how much one recognises the state's duty to address it, something just feels wrong about being lectured on drink and antisocial behaviour by two former pillars of the Bullingdon Club. It's not unlike the feeling you get when being scolded by Claire Perry, Cameron's worrying notion of a childcare expert, whose principal message, for any parent who has seen her on television, is the need to stop your kids ever growing up to be like Claire Perry.Not that rationality is that effective here. No matter how clear it is that Britain has a drink problem and how much one recognises the state's duty to address it, something just feels wrong about being lectured on drink and antisocial behaviour by two former pillars of the Bullingdon Club. It's not unlike the feeling you get when being scolded by Claire Perry, Cameron's worrying notion of a childcare expert, whose principal message, for any parent who has seen her on television, is the need to stop your kids ever growing up to be like Claire Perry.
Might it be possible, incidentally, to block transmission of de haut en bas political homiletic? That way, our families would also be protected from Anna Soubry's campaign, inspired by her own gag reflex, to shame individuals who lunch at their desks. For a small-state party that once acknowledged, with its "nudge" unit, the reflexive resistance to heavy-handed paternalism, these incursions into Gwyneth Paltrow territory by politicians whose contacts with civilians are of the strictly anthropological variety are one of the clearest signs yet that it has utterly lost its way.Might it be possible, incidentally, to block transmission of de haut en bas political homiletic? That way, our families would also be protected from Anna Soubry's campaign, inspired by her own gag reflex, to shame individuals who lunch at their desks. For a small-state party that once acknowledged, with its "nudge" unit, the reflexive resistance to heavy-handed paternalism, these incursions into Gwyneth Paltrow territory by politicians whose contacts with civilians are of the strictly anthropological variety are one of the clearest signs yet that it has utterly lost its way.
To be fair to Paltrow, she does look as if she observes, along with her children, every last stricture of her patent regime, which involves a punishing avoidance of carbs and, I understand, that protracted mastication the Victorians knew as Fletcherizing. Like James I's conviction that language was innate, irrefutable until his infant guinea pigs grew up, Paltrow's child-nutrition regime cannot be ridiculed with any confidence until the mature Apple is papped in a Krispy Kreme concession or Moses gets mistaken for a poor person by Anna Soubry.To be fair to Paltrow, she does look as if she observes, along with her children, every last stricture of her patent regime, which involves a punishing avoidance of carbs and, I understand, that protracted mastication the Victorians knew as Fletcherizing. Like James I's conviction that language was innate, irrefutable until his infant guinea pigs grew up, Paltrow's child-nutrition regime cannot be ridiculed with any confidence until the mature Apple is papped in a Krispy Kreme concession or Moses gets mistaken for a poor person by Anna Soubry.
That Paltrow, whose role in Iron Man triumphantly showcases her victory over toxins, should continue to be the object of international derision may mean that the public's problem is not so much her methods as being life-coached by an absurdly rich, self-flagellating Martian with the social awareness of a crocodile. Currently, her website, Goop, intended to be women's "most trusted girlfriend on the web", is all expert advice on "editing your closet" for spring. Sample tip: "Larger travel bags that aren't used that often can be stored on a high shelf." In fact, it might make more sense for Gwyneth to email her thoughts directly to a like-minded audience composed of, say, Waitrose guru Pippa Middleton, fashion expert Louise Mensch and childcare specialist Claire Perry in exchange for comparably astute interventions.That Paltrow, whose role in Iron Man triumphantly showcases her victory over toxins, should continue to be the object of international derision may mean that the public's problem is not so much her methods as being life-coached by an absurdly rich, self-flagellating Martian with the social awareness of a crocodile. Currently, her website, Goop, intended to be women's "most trusted girlfriend on the web", is all expert advice on "editing your closet" for spring. Sample tip: "Larger travel bags that aren't used that often can be stored on a high shelf." In fact, it might make more sense for Gwyneth to email her thoughts directly to a like-minded audience composed of, say, Waitrose guru Pippa Middleton, fashion expert Louise Mensch and childcare specialist Claire Perry in exchange for comparably astute interventions.
Here, for instance, is Pippa telling Six Nations viewers how to stage a prole party: "Attach flags between two fixtures in the room." Copying the beauty bloggers she has seen on YouTube, Mensch can be seen demonstrating hair-brushing and applying foundation. "It sinks in after a couple of minutes," she assures worried extra-terrestrials. Perry's weightier area of expertise is, of course, children: "Good parenting isn't just about making sure they come top in maths," she has noticed, "but all the difficult stuff, too."Here, for instance, is Pippa telling Six Nations viewers how to stage a prole party: "Attach flags between two fixtures in the room." Copying the beauty bloggers she has seen on YouTube, Mensch can be seen demonstrating hair-brushing and applying foundation. "It sinks in after a couple of minutes," she assures worried extra-terrestrials. Perry's weightier area of expertise is, of course, children: "Good parenting isn't just about making sure they come top in maths," she has noticed, "but all the difficult stuff, too."
Widespread respect for media specialists such as Tania Byron and Jo Frost (aka Supernanny), and for Dr Wollaston, with her uncompromising message on alcohol pricing, indicates a public that is interested in advice, even the difficult kind, if it comes from the right person. Professional qualifications are welcome, but experience will do: cf the better kind of agony aunt. Aside from her medical training, Wollaston is again unusual among MPs in having worked near to the West Country constituents who chose her out of 100 candidates in open primaries, she believed, because of her "life skills".Widespread respect for media specialists such as Tania Byron and Jo Frost (aka Supernanny), and for Dr Wollaston, with her uncompromising message on alcohol pricing, indicates a public that is interested in advice, even the difficult kind, if it comes from the right person. Professional qualifications are welcome, but experience will do: cf the better kind of agony aunt. Aside from her medical training, Wollaston is again unusual among MPs in having worked near to the West Country constituents who chose her out of 100 candidates in open primaries, she believed, because of her "life skills".
James Graham, the author of the brilliant play This House, about the lurid sequence of elections fought between 1974 and 1979, now identifies "as the biggest threat to our functioning democracy … the increasingly small pool that we draw our politicians from, the professionalisation of politics". It's more than posh v proles; in the past, his play reminds us, members arrived from all types of backgrounds. What was typical, he said on Radio 4's Start the Week, was for an MP to be "someone who's grown up in the constituency, and proved themselves, and wants to go and speak on behalf of their neighbours".James Graham, the author of the brilliant play This House, about the lurid sequence of elections fought between 1974 and 1979, now identifies "as the biggest threat to our functioning democracy … the increasingly small pool that we draw our politicians from, the professionalisation of politics". It's more than posh v proles; in the past, his play reminds us, members arrived from all types of backgrounds. What was typical, he said on Radio 4's Start the Week, was for an MP to be "someone who's grown up in the constituency, and proved themselves, and wants to go and speak on behalf of their neighbours".
Now we have Ed Miliband, who "has only ever known politics", parachuted into Doncaster, Mensch foisted on Corby, an endless supply of Benns, Blairs and non-hereditary hopefuls with PPE degrees and Westminster-only experience queuing for distribution like missionaries, but less interested, around the lands of payday loans and one-parent families, obesity and deplorable drinking habits.Now we have Ed Miliband, who "has only ever known politics", parachuted into Doncaster, Mensch foisted on Corby, an endless supply of Benns, Blairs and non-hereditary hopefuls with PPE degrees and Westminster-only experience queuing for distribution like missionaries, but less interested, around the lands of payday loans and one-parent families, obesity and deplorable drinking habits.
If Pippa Middleton's advice on entertaining is impossible to take seriously, she definitely goes out a lot. Nobody knows more about kale water than Gwyneth Paltrow. But on what authority do parties that are 100% geek tell anyone how to live?If Pippa Middleton's advice on entertaining is impossible to take seriously, she definitely goes out a lot. Nobody knows more about kale water than Gwyneth Paltrow. But on what authority do parties that are 100% geek tell anyone how to live?
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