It's a token gesture to appease crusading politicians and Daily Star readers. There is a price war raging on our high streets that means it is cheaper to drink in town now than it was 20 years ago, in relative terms.
I agree it is more culture than anything else, and it's nothing new either. Young Anglo Saxon men have been drinking and fighting since before Australia was 'discovered'.
The licensed trade is too powerful, and too clever, to be beaten down by anybody. There is no way that the town centres will be 'reclaimed' for nice people. We will just drink elsewhere at the weekend and local pubs are doing well again already.
You will never separate a Brit from his beer.
