Several people I know renounce all alcohol in January to give their bodies a rest after the excesses of Christmas and the New Year.

They may have been helped in their endeavours this year by Government advice on drinking which is far more draconian than any ever previously issued.

It says giving up booze permanently is the only safe answer to the alcohol problem and that both men and women should not have more than 14 units a week – about seven pints. Having some dry days each week is mentioned.

Previously the recommended limits were much higher, particularly for men, and some advice even said that a daily glass of red wine might be beneficial.

It looks as if health experts will try to crack down on drinking in the same way as they have for the last half century on smoking. But there are some marked differences.

Even one cigarette is bad for your health and most smokers are addicts. Half the smokers in Britain die as a direct result of their habit.

Many drinkers are not in any way hooked on alcohol and the jury is still out on whether small quantities are OK. Far fewer die from drink.

But there are thousands of alcoholics and millions of heavy drinkers. The damage drink does to them, and those who live with them, is enormous.

Most of us could mention great names that have been drowned by drink – the footballer George Best, the comedian Peter Cook and the poet Dylan Thomas to name but three.

Read the biographies of women such as the humourist Dorothy Parker or men like the playwright Brendan Behan and you will be struck by the tragic loss of talent.

And there are few who could not name friends or relatives who have a drink problem which can be destructive.

A Saturday night visit to West Street in Brighton or the accident and emergency department of the Royal Sussex County Hospital shows the damage drink does. Drink is a factor in many cases of homelessness and mental illness.

Yet I am not alone in being a little uneasy at the latest advice on drinking. It is another example of the nanny state telling us what to do and how to run our lives.

It does not distinguish between light drinkers who are not addicted and heavy boozers whose health is at risk. It fails to take account of the social pleasures a little alcohol can bring.

People react in different ways to drink. A good example was Julian Amery, former Tory MP for Brighton Pavilion.

He must have been well over all alcohol limits most days as he took pleasure in drinking. But his wife Catherine, daughter of Harold Macmillan, was in her later years a forlorn and emaciated figure whose dependence on alcohol was sad.

Attitudes to alcohol are already changing. Most people do not now drink and drive. This has led to the closure of country pubs or their conversion into restaurants.

Far fewer men drop into the pub on their way home from work and this has led to the closure of town boozers.

There were some professions such as mine which were run on drink and alcohol dependency was accepted provided the work was still done.

Long, boozy lunch hours were a feature of journalism, politics and business. Now most workers do not even have a break for lunch.

Bottles of beer and wine tell you how much alcohol they contain. The drinking of spirits generally is declining. Booze cruises are less popular than they were.

Health experts will probably have their way on booze as they have done on fags. But a little bit of fun will go out of life is they do.

The Argus once had a news editor who lit up one cigarette a year – to mark National No Smoking Day.

If the day ever comes when there is a no drinking day – or month - I shall join him in raising a defiant glass against the nanny state.

The Argus:

More than 20 years ago some handsome heritage boards were installed all over Hove to show the history that was on offer.

Sponsored by American Express, they were well written, pleasingly designed and extremely durable.

But they are now starting to look more than a little unkempt and inevitably the text in some places is hopelessly out of date.

I first drew the attention of Brighton and Hove City Council to their parlous plight in 2010 but nothing at all has been done.

It wouldn’t take a great deal of time and trouble to update the words and to renovate the boards. Perhaps Amex might be persuaded to pay as their shabby state is no good for the company’s image.