It’s a contentious, contradictory moment for booze: pubs and drinking remain baked into national identity, yet alcohol deaths have been climbing since the pandemic: largely because people are drinking cheap booze from  supermarkets rather than pubs, which are closing at a rate of eight-per-week.

Meanwhile, the refrain on the pavement is familiar. £7 a pint. Country’s gone to the dogs. We used to make things. Right? Colin Angus is a Professor of Alcohol Policy in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group. He creates mind-bending models that analyse the true place, impact and price of alcohol in society...