Tonight, Shropshire radio presenter Adam Green features in a timely BBC TV documentary examining the issue of social drinking. He took part in a month-long project to give up booze throughout December party season, with some eye-opening results.

It comes on the day that MPs call for another change in the UK’s safe drinking guidelines, suggesting everyone should take at least two alcohol-free days a week.

Or, in other words, that it is perfectly acceptable to have a drink up to five days a week.

Campaigns such as this walk a very fine line. While the underlying intention is clearly to protect the health of the nation (not to mention saving money at the country’s cash-strapped hospitals), many will see it as further interference from the nanny state.

Cans and bottles already carry more information than ever about alcohol units, allowing drinkers to make an informed choice, and no-one in their right minds would drink alcohol every day without considering they may be damaging their health.

Just the same as no-one who smokes is unaware of the messages on the packs, telling them they are quite possibly killing themselves.

Next month, the British Liver Trust is due to launch new Change4Life adverts telling people about the harm alcohol can do to our health.

It also plans to publish a new strategy to tackle alcohol misuse – proving, one may argue, that they already know the publicity campaign will have negligible impact.

The power of human nature, and free choice, should not be underestimated.

In the same way that you cannot create good citizens simply by offering them 30-minute “citizenship” classes in schools, it is naive to think you can cure alcohol problems with public service announcements.

PM’s hidden agenda?

It would appear that David Cameron is preparing to call the bluff of Scotland’s nationalist First Minister Alex Salmond by allowing him a referendum on his country’s independence – if he dares to do so within the next 18 months.

Polls suggest a majority of Scots still want to maintain links with England, but support for a break-up of the union is steadily inching upwards.

Mr Cameron has always described himself as a Unionist. But many Tories would be delighted, from a purely political viewpoint, to see Scottish MPs removed from Westminster.

After all, the Conservatives would lose just one member of parliament, Labour’s representation in the Commons would be seriously dented, and Mr Cameron’s chances of earning an overall majority in the next general election would be significantly higher.

The Prime Minister’s official view – that the issue should not be allowed to drift on, and a decision is needed one way or the other – is a convincing one.

But he would be forgiven by many of his supporters if his real motivation was wanting rid of the Scots, sooner rather than later.