'I f something ain't broke, don't fix it", is a sound rule. The trouble is that some people extend this rule - they believe that even if something is broke you don't have to fix it.

The tackling of binge drinking is currently dominating the news and new research has thrown some interesting light on the matter - and the tricky question of why it is so prevalent in Britain but not in other countries.

The quest for knowledge begins with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - originally compiled on the orders of King Alfred the Great, around AD 890, and subsequently maintained and added to by generations of anonymous scribes until the middle of the 12th century.

Dr Angela McShane-Jones, a historian at Warwick University, has highlighted a passage of the Chronicle written by the Norman invaders of 1066 in which they remark upon how drunk the English soldiers were.

Dr McShane-Jones says this propensity to drink effectively received the royal seal of approval in the 16th century as gangs of Royalists searched the streets for rebel Puritans.

Anyone who refused a drink in the local inn was regarded as a Puritan and punished. As a result, drinking alcohol was seen as a demonstration of loyalty to both the Crown and Church.

The pressure group Alcohol Concern believes these early seeds of binge drinking flourished during the Industrial Revolution when it became traditional for men to receive their wages on a Friday and welcome the weekend by heading for the pub and buying in rounds.

Getting hammered became a way of demonstrating, not only patriotism, but the fact you were having a good time. So countering binge drinking will not be easy: we have to change a culture which dates back over 1,000 years.

The Government proposes a complete revamp of our current laws and the introduction of 24-hour licensing. Opponents have labelled this 'all-day drinking' and seem to be predicting round-the-clock binge drinking.

I accept Mediterranean countries have a completely different culture where alcohol is concerned - introducing it at an early age and as part of a meal. But why, for example, do we not see binge drinking in countries that have a similar culture and love of a beer as ourselves - such as Germany and Australia?

Could it be because they have more relaxed licensing hours they don't feel the need to bolt their drinks? Could it be that relaxed licensing hours give economic support to encourage a range of late-night entertainment options - not simply vertical drinking?

Education about the effects of alcohol as well as police intervention have been used for many years to try to prevent drink-related disorder but they are not winning the battle.

Perhaps there is a generation of drinkers whose behaviour we cannot change, we can only try to control it. But we can focus on the next generation. Young people have far greater opportunity to sample foreign cultures today than their predecessors ever did. This can be hugely beneficial but also highlights the draconian laws back home.

It will take many years to wipe out 1,000 years of conditioning but if we expect to modernise the British approach to drinking perhaps we need to modernise our licensing laws first.

Published: 12/08/2005