This week our government has greeted us with the news that it has reneged on all plans to put a minimum price on a unit of alcohol in the UK.
Don't worry though folks, we ain't stopping there...
Apparently that's not quite enough of an incentive to keep on chugging-so they are throwing in all two-for-one offers as safe and legitimate too.
Oh, Mr Prime Minister - now you're really spoiling us.
I don't find any of this surprising. Despite the minimum pricing issue always being seen as something that was a forgone conclusion - when it was going ahead rather than if - it's not the end of the world. There could have been a perfectly plausible explanation. I along with many others were once again willing to suspend our disbelief and hear what our government had to say on the matter.
I truly was not prepared for the reasons they gave.
Apparently it would be unfair to hurt responsible drinkers "at a time when responsible families are trying hard to balance their household budgets".
There are things in life we all need. A roof over our heads: Electricity. Food. Running water. Petrol in our cars. If we do not have them? There are serious ramifications.
Alcohol is not one of them. We don't need it. It's not vital. It does not need to be worked into a household budget.
There are things we should have. Freedom to enjoy our hard-earned leisure time. A government who actually knows how to look after us safely.
If the law-makers of our country see alcohol as a vital part of our day-to-day experience? Then we are f*cked. Well and truly.
It is estimated that 7.6million of us are hazardous drinkers. People who drink more than they should, but do go to work, hold down jobs. Raise families. People we work with. Who we see everyday. People who do need alcohol on some level. Who do feel deprived without it but would never call themselves alcohol abusers. Who do not register that they even have a problem. However their attitude towards alcohol is warped. They do prioritise it above and beyond something that is a background player in life. They do see it as something vital. It really is that important to them,
How many of these people make up our government? Are our cabinet ministers? How many of them sat down, reviewed the collective data and decided there was not enough "concrete evidence" to pass a law that could help thousands of UK residents? How many did it from a totally warped perspective? Not even knowing they were starting from a position of personal prejudice?
I'd prefer it was done from a purely mercenary point of view. I'd certainly be able to sleep better at night-but it does not seem to be the case. Not by the language used in the statements following this announcement.
How safe are we under these individuals? Who is monitoring the lifestyles of the people who make up our government? Wouldn't we do well to start focusing on where their personal relationships with alcohol lie, before we take their word as bond?
So if you are going to raise a glass this week to the people who helped make cheap booze an even more affordable part of your weekly budget, it may be best to bear in mind that you're actually paying £21billion pounds a year to help sort out the physical and social repercussions that alcohol abuse presently manages to create. Possibly not the deal of the century after all then.
Bottoms Up.