No doubt provoking the usual mixture of mirth and indignation, leavened with a dash or two of genuine admiration, the New Year Honours appear at the weekend. No-one will view them with a more jaundiced eye than former Prime Minster John Major.

Remember his revelations back in the summer? He exposed what he called the "extremely unattractive'' lobbying directed at the Prime Minster by, or on behalf of, prominent people desperate for gongs.

"People would become available to help beyond any reasonable expectation,'' he disclosed. "Others would arrange for an intermediary to approach you. 'Have you seen the splendid work that X has done'?'' Mr Major was honest enough to admit that he recommended Denis Thatcher's appointment as a baronet in response to "powerful representations''.

So there you have it - the grubbiness that dishonours the honours system: a shame for those whose honours come without high-level leverage. It's an old story of course. And, in fact, I draw John Major centre stage from the political shadows chiefly for a very different reason: his key role in the binge-drinking that now seriously disfigures Britain's cities.

Last week I asked where the phenomenon had come from. Well, the circumstances that allowed it to emerge were the work of Mr Major, building on a foundation laid by Margaret Thatcher. In 1987, her Government slackened the "change of use" planning laws to make it easier to open new bars and clubs.

However, magistrates continued to refuse alcohol licences on the ground that there was no need. In 1996, John Major quietly removed the long-standing test of need. This led directly to the concentration of nightspots, which offered a super new version of the pub crawl. In many cities bar capacity doubled.

Intended to usher in a continental-style caf society, the changes have instead turned Britain's cities at night into a vision of hell. Tony Blair himself has declared that binge drinking threatens to become "the new British disease''. Yet his Government's solution is a hair-of-the-dog further extension of licensing hours.

Perhaps John Major should speak out on this with the frankness he brought to the honours debate. An admission of a huge, if honest, misjudgement, might just prevent the mistake being compounded.

following another recent blast here against a different urban beast, the ever-more ubiquitous 4x4, a LibDem supporter informed me that his party wants drivers of 4x4s that enter central London to pay double the present congestion charge of £5. I suppose that's a start, though sales of 4x4s are racing ahead faster in the provinces than the capital. Another reader advocates reducing road tax to a nominal charge, with a compensating increase in petrol duty.

Though probably not very welcome, this would at least tie all motoring costs to travel and size of vehicle.

Anyway, Happy New Year, even if you drive a 4x4. Very little gets personal here, though binge drinkers push me hard.

PS: Just before Christmas I lost a front tooth, the last of the pair that was once my own. Up the chimney went a plaintive, hopeless plea to Santa: "All I want for Christmas....'' You know the rest.