🍷Before the UK joined what later became the EU in 1973, it is claimed that 60% of all champagne sold in the country was in imperial pint-sized bottles.
Upon accession to the Common Market, however, the UK fell into line with an existing Brussels ban on the glass container
The Government now has its sights set on lifting the ban.
➡️An ongoing review into “hangover” EU laws has been taken on by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, following the resignation last week of Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister
💬Mark Driver, co-owner of Rathfinny Estate said: “This is something we have been lobbying hard for.”
He argued that the pint bottle is the perfect size for two, as it offers four glasses, which is more easily divisible than the three glasses offered by a half bottle
A standard bottle was considered excessive for a lone drinker – at least by Winston Churchill’s wife.
🥂He once remarked “Clemmie thinks that a full bottle is too much for me, but I know that half a bottle is insufficient to tease my brains”
💬The compromise of the pint “pleases everyone, even the producer,” Churchill said.
This remains true, since the modern pint, which holds 50cl, can be made in the “traditional method”, which means that secondary fermentation takes place inside the bottle
🍾This avoids the pitfalls of the half bottle that is often filled by transferring the sparkling wine from a larger bottle.
It loses pressure in the process and produces what many vintners consider an inferior bottle of wine
🍷MP's have also suggested that English pints of English wine would have a marketing advantage and could become a best-seller worldwide as well as at home
Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, was accused of being the source of a contested claim by Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, that there is typically a 17-day lag between patients becoming infected and requiring hospitalisation
➡️However, independent experts pointed to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, which suggested an average delay of nine or 10 days
"The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa," President Cyril Ramaphosa said
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu was the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, and before that Bishop of Johannesburg – the first black African to hold both posts
🔴Although Israel was the first country to widely distribute three jabs of the Covid vaccine during the summer, its rollout has plateaued in recent weeks as the UK’s programme has accelerated
The UK has triple-vaccinated 45.2 per cent of its total population, while Israel has administered boosters to 44.9 per cent.
🇨🇱In Chile, 52.7 per cent of people have had a third jab