No more happy hour

London

The British pub industry said this week it would stop offering most “happy hour” drink specials, in an effort to curb widespread binge drinking. The British Beer and Pub Association, whose members own two-thirds of the country’s 59,000 pubs, said it would take the step voluntarily as a “show of responsibility”—and to prevent Parliament from intervening. “This is self-regulation at work,” an industry spokesman said. “Self-regulation is infinitely preferable to legislation.” The government has blamed drunkenness for a recent increase in brawling and other violent crime. A few specials will still be allowed, but only if they include food. The popular all-you-can-drink-in-an-hour promotion, though, is gone.

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