Protz: Holy war on booze

Is beer drinking causing a schism in the Church of England? Two of its top bishops seem to be at loggerheads over the amber nectar.

Last week it was reported that the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, had visited the pope in the Vatican and presented him with a gift.

But breaking with tradition, the archbishop handed over not a portrait of a saint or a jewel-encrusted sword, but a bottle of beer from the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire.

The pontiff hails from Bavaria and is partial to a glass of beer. The beer in question was a one-off brew produced at the archbishop's request and was called Monty Python's Holy Grail.

There were subliminal messages in the choice of brewery and beer name that would not have been lost on the pontiff.

Black Sheep comes from the parable of the prodigal son while the Monty Python reference may not have been well received in the Vatican as their later film, The Life of Brian, was a ferocious blast against religion in all its forms.

Perhaps after John Sentamu had left, Benedict XVI poured the beer down the sink. But we can only hope he supped it and revelled in the superb aromas and flavours of Paul Theakston's brew.

It was a splendid boost for British beer. But the very next day the top man in the Church of England condemned "24-hour drinking"​ and Britain's "culture of alcohol abuse"​.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was speaking on the fifth anniversary of his enthronement. He hoped a review of the new licensing law by the prime minister would conclude that "serving alcohol round the clock had not been a success"​.

"I think,"​ he added, "that it has had an effect of making less safe and less civil our public space in many contexts, including Canterbury."​

Readers of the MA have got used to the down-market media banging on about 24-hour drinking.

Should we expect better of an archbishop? I have no religion, but I respect Dr Williams as a cultured man and I am saddened that he should descend to such distortions.

24-hour drinking​

There is no such thing as "24-hour drinking"​. Under the new law, licensees can choose their hours within a 24-hour cycle to meet the demands of their trade.

Many pubs, including my local, that opened until midnight and beyond have gone back to 11 o'clock closing as there is no custom after that time.

The image peddled by some newspapers and TV programmes of ever-open pubs supplying booze to hordes of drunken young people is removed from the reality of most towns and cities.

Of course there is a problem of binge drinking, but it's confined to a small minority and there is anecdotal evidence that the problem has eased since the law changed.

There was an undeniable problem in St Albans, where I live, when every city-centre pub shut at 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

Large numbers of over-boozed young people poured on to the streets and mayhem followed.

Now pubs close at different times. Some still shut at 11pm, others are open until midnight or, in one case, two in the morning. The result is a more relaxed atmosphere and less trouble.

With respect to Dr Williams, I doubt he spends much time touring the pubs of Canterbury. The last time I was in that fine city, I walked to and from several pubs in connection with a book I was writing.

I visited the Phoenix on the Old Dover Road, walked to the King's Head in Wincheap, where I stayed overnight, and in the evening walked from that pub across the city to the Unicorn in St Dunstan's Street.

At no time did I see any drunken behaviour in pubs or on the streets.

I would be delighted to join Dr Williams on a tour of Canterbury's pubs. In the meantime I urge him to get John Sentamu to send him a case of Holy Grail.

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