Is there no end to the nanny state? If the twother comes to pass as an official unit, then the British pub will become even more threatened than it is already.

Endangered and declining because of the smoking ban and the jobsworths who enforce that attack on libertarianism, the twother represents yet another insult to the judgment, intelligence and integrity of the beleaguered drinking classes.

If the twother is adopted because of demand from girls who would only order one a night while taking up valuable drinking space or by callow youths better suited to model making, another nail would be driven into what used to be the great British pub.

It is the beginning of a further attack on our traditions. If it comes to pass, it will only be a matter of time before the Government sees it as yet another excuse to save us from ourselves and bans the pint in its favour. It would, of course, be a Machiavellian measure, for instead of having one pint on his way home George would have two twothers, not only increasing government revenue but also putting him over the drink-drive limit, thus reducing road traffic.

The worst aspect is the lack of trust it demonstrates in the common sense of the vast majority of drinkers. If a person does not want a pint, then what is wrong with a half? Remember the metric martyrs, punished for daring to give the public what they want. “Fancy a pint tonight, George?” “Sorry, dear chap, I can’t be twothered!”

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