Peter Jackson column

Oct 6 2005 By Peter Jackson, The Journal

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

This is an observation it's always worth the business world keeping in mind, given its reliance on projections, extrapolations, interpolations, surveys and manipulation of numbers in all their forms.

And even when such statistics do not have a direct influence, as in next year's sales projections, they could count indirectly, via government or the general public.

The frightening thing is how often they're wrong.

At the beginning of the last century it was predicted that London would be knee deep in horse manure by 1940.

And no doubt it would have been, had it not been for the invention of the internal combustion engine.

Talking of which, somebody else forecast huge unemployment being caused by the motor car making thousands of ostlers, blacksmiths, fodder merchants and livery stable workers redundant.

At the moment we are undergoing a relentless bombardment of statistics and reports to convince us of the nation's drinking problem.

One need only wander down the Bigg Market in Newcastle on a Saturday night to get a basic grasp, but that is not enough for those who must produce figures.

I have pointed out before that the supposed safe limits of 21 units for men and 14 for women were cooked up in the 1980s on the basis of no medical evidence whatsoever, but they have become an unquestioned benchmark for sensible drinking.

This, incidentally, is despite the fact that they contradict Government recommendations on the amount of red wine which it is positively beneficial to drink.

Now binge drinking is classed as eight units being downed in one session by men, or six units for women - that is four pints of beer, or six small glasses of wine.

In a burst of interactivity, the BBC website asked its readers to vote online as to how often they drank this amount - once a week, more than once a week, special occasions or never.

So, if you're a man and are so depraved as to drink four pints on a Friday and Saturday nights, then you - and millions like you - will be right at the extreme end of this survey's scale for binge drinking.

And it is surveys such as this which will influence future legislation, and so the future of much of our leisure industry.