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By Keir Mudie Four days to the end of Dry January. I was press-ganged into it this year and it’s taught me very little except a newfound respect for the teetotal. There are not many of them round here, alas, but I could do with a chat with one of them, just to find some strategy for how to cope with all this stuff without a couple at lunchtime, teatime, and then some sort of spirit when Newsnight comes on. It is really difficult. No respite anywhere – I think the nadir came when I got up at 4am in the cold and dark to listen to the cricket. The Conservative Party is not making temperance easy….