John Rae, past head of Westminster School, fears independent schools don’t take boozing among pupils as seriously as drug-taking. He told a conference on addiction last week that one Yorkshire boarding school let older pupils drink two pints a night. Thinking this a moderate amount, the head left the brands up to them.

John, who is also a past head of the drinks industry’s self-regulatory Portman Group, had to point out that as some ciders pack the punch of rocket fuel and premium lagers are not much better, pupils were drinking the equivalent of two bottles of whisky a week. Each.