The End of Ladies’ Night

A venerable tradition came under fire yesterday, as the Brits considered a ban on free drinks for women. If that weren’t enough to shake up pub culture, also endangered were drinking games and beer and wine “tastings.” Government officials feel that Britain’s 24-hour drinking has not produced the “café culture” of the continent but rather round-the-clock overconsumption. One Mark Hastings, of the British Beer & Pub Association, snarled, “Government needs to wake up to the fact that five pubs a day are closing.”