Robert Humphreys

honorary secretary

All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group /The British Beer Club in the European Parliament

Not without a lot more effort. The pressure of the new puritanism abroad in the high -taxing democracies of the industrial world is powerful and growing. As the new liberalism of post-war Europe moves into its third generation, the earlier legacy of self-control and conformity has dissipated and the excesses of unfettered capitalism have fed this degeneration. Public health considerations are delivering ammunition to the enemies of fun and the drinks industry has become too complacent. A new spirit of recognition is at last paying attention to the threats to the industry's freedoms.