I’m absolutely in favour of teenagers not getting drunk or putting them on a path to becoming alcoholics - which is why I am completely against these proposals from Alcohol Concern for it to be illegal.

The best way of getting teenagers to want to drink too much is to tell them it is some forbidden fruit which they are not allowed to have. Have the authors of this proposal never come across the fact that, as a cartoon I saw recently put it “the best way to get something done is to tell your children not to do it”?

The consequences of making alcohol unattainable are very clear from Sweden and Norway which make it very difficult to purchase alcohol and as a result have some of the worst drunkenness figures of anywhere. Just compare this with the countries of southern Europe where children learn to live with drink from a young age and consequently don’t grow up wanting to consume excessive quantities of it.

As part of children growing up they should learn about alcohol: clearly not force-fed huge quantities of it, but allowed to try it appropriately.

And if there is a problem with young teenagers drinking alcohol excessively - which there seems to be some limited evidence there might be - then preventing their parents from giving them small quantities is hardly going to address it.

Fortunately this proposal is so wrong that even this nanny government isn’t prepared to take it forward - Caroline Flint, the relevant Minister, dismissing it on Today this morning.