The Times has been running correspondence about whether Keir Starmer could organise a p*ss up in a brewery. As a regular at the Good Beer Guide listed Pineapple pub in Kentish Town its a fair bet that he could.
However the discussion broadened to the above letter on the Carlisle State Management scheme (1916-1973). The Government nationalised brewing and pubs in the town during World War One. It was a centre of arms manufacture and controlling drinking was important to the war effort.
It did mean however that beer of a good standard and pubs that were welcoming to all and served food were the norm. I have posted in the past on the Carlisle scheme (which also ran at Enfield Lock) could be one model for a future socialised pub trade.
Clearly George Melly did not agree
It has to be said that George Melly was not the most factually accurate of reporters. Like many raconteurs, he tended to adapt his stories to the words he wished to use rather than vice versa. An entertaining phrase, like “alcoholic post offices” would therefore take precedence over a comment on the quality of the beer (Melly was, in any case, a drinker of gin) or food.