And now for something completely different: From a letter to the Times of London, here's a creative, of-the-moment argument against exending pub hours in the UK:

Effects of new drinking hours

Sir, I turned teetotal having seen, as a barrister, many lives destroyed by alcohol: those of both otherwise law-abiding citizens, who committed acts of violence when drunk, and their victims.

Like Judge Charles Harris, QC, and the Council of Her Majesty’s Circuit Judges (report, August 10), my many Muslim friends also see large-scale loutish alcoholism, and the society which permits it, as decadent.

Allowing pubs to open round the clock will increase Muslim disaffection and support for those fighting such decadence. Extended drinking hours may cause more terrorism.

ANDREW M. ROSEMARINE
Salford, Manchester

I wonder what Richard Clarke thinks of this idea...

(Thanks to reader Alex Massie)
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