Harrow's booze-hounds aren't having a good time of it. WIth Boris decreeing that it's no longer lawful to sup a Pale Ale while rattling up northwest-wards on the Metropolitan Line, the borough is now mulling a total ban on drinking in public.

Killjoy councillors are debating whether to extend a public booze ban, which already exists in parts of Wealdstone and South Harrow, to cover the entire borough. But fear not, Pimms quaffers! The wine-picnic crowd aren't the ones being tediously lectured here by our overseers - problem yoofs and "street drinkers" are the ones singled out, with the bugbear of "anti-social behaviour" raised again.

This petty authoritarian attitude is tinged with remarkable snobbery: "oh no, Millicent, fret not, we can still pop a bottle of Bolly on the Heath, this ban is only for the rabble down there!". We doubt the larkers at prestigious Harrow School will be having their port pinched by the police any time soon, but those drunks on the benches will be relieved of their White Lightning sharpish. Truly, the elite are running this town, and they're making damn sure everyone knows about it.

If only we could trust that these hectoring councils actually had our own best interests at heart. But what's this? Here they are again, accused of abusing their powers by using surveillance to spy on people (Croydon are particularly keen on that). Is there no area of modern life that is free from the meddling of officialdom?

A final aside: interesting to see that the Beeb illustrated the story with a pic of that stereotypical drunk girl whose image is belched up by lazy picture researchers anytime they need to point a moralising finger in the general direction of "the masses". Who on earth is this girl? She could be earning a fortune off the image rights.

Spirit selection courtesy of Tsingtao's Flickrstream via the Londonist Flickrpool