In the Eighties, Labour and the TUC boycotted Brighton as a conference centre because beer cost more than £1 a pint.

Now the £3 pint is here and prices in Brighton and Hove are rivalling those of the capital.

Yet the Sussex resort does not have many of the advantages London has, such as the high wages needed to buy those expensive drinks.

Judging by crowds in some pubs, many people are prepared to pay through the nose for a drink to put in the mouth.

In the end, market forces will prevail if the pub landlords become too greedy and force up prices further.

Only this time the boycott might be bigger and more general than that by Labour and the trades unionists all those years ago.