We are all drinking more – and government fear-mongering won’t stop us

Over the last year, the continual barrage of gloom and doom from the medical establishment has produced a sense of weariness and frustration among the public, writes Janet Street-Porter

Drinking is routinely regarded as a key part of British culture (Getty)

We got through house arrest during the past year by drinking more. A lot more – there’s been a 20 per cent increase in the sales of booze, with beer up 31 per cent, spirits up 26 per cent and wine up by a fifth. Now, the World Health Organisation says that this increase in consumption is responsible for one in seven cancer cases in the UK and one in four globally. Even moderate drinking – an extra glass of wine a day above the recommended limit of one – can increase the risk of breast cancer by 6 per cent, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

Public Health England (PHE) confirms the detrimental effects of drink on our health, and say it is responsible for a 20 per cent increase in alcohol-related deaths since last year, with mental and behavioural problems soaring by 11 per cent. PHE says that from March 2020 to the same time this year, there was a 59 per cent rise in people admitting they were drinking more, and at “higher-risk levels”.

This rise in physical and mental health issues related to booze isn’t reflected in rapidly rising hospital admissions, because people were too scared to seek help at a time when Covid seemed out of control. Liver disease is now the second cause of death among people of working age, and the evidence indicates this will continue.