You’d probably bet things couldn’t get any worse for the Government this week. Of course the House always wins and you’d be wrong.

Manchester council, rightly aggrieved at the prime minister’s decision to kill off the super casino project that it won, is considering a legal challenge.

With UK football fans likely to be drinking to forget their respective national sides’ failed bids to be at the European Championships next year, business at the local is probably quite good at the moment.

However, The British Beer & Pub Association predicts the abject failure of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to qualify will leave publicans nursing a sore head as they’re likely to miss out on at least £80m of additional revenue as a result.

Although some people might think it’s all over, it’s not.

The Home Office has launched another crackdown on underage drinkers and Prime Minister Gordon Brown told pub bosses he was concerned about efforts thus far to curb underage and irresponsible drinking.

If you are going to drink, make sure it’s on a full stomach. A new report by Ipos Mori for caterer BaxterStorey reveals lost productivity from workers skipping breakfast, lunch or both is costing £16.85b a year or 97 million lost working days.

Plenty of water is a must and operators have hit back at claims by Which? that they’re pushing pricey mineral water on diners to inflate their profits.

Which? was in the headlines again as a number of former inspectors from its Good Food Guide accused a new inspection and editorial regime of cutting corners.

Enterprise Inns boss Ted Tuppen predicted a tough year ahead for some pubs and Toyko upset the culinary status quo by becoming the most Michelin-starred city in the world.

Another surprise was the departure of Tristan Welch from Pétrus to become head chef at D&D’s soon to be refurbished Launceston Place.

Buy-to-let hotel firm GuestInvest signed up London’s Blakes and skills minister David Lammy warned UK employers not to rely solely on migrants to plug the skills gap.

And don’t forget the countdown for entries to this year’s Springboard Awards for Excellence has begun with the deadline on Thursday 29th November.

Quote of the week: “At best the Government fails to understand basic economics, at worst it misled the tourism industry about its support for delivering an Olympic economic legacy.” The Tourism Alliance’s Ros Pritchard launches the “Take Tourism Seriously” campaign.

By Chris Druce, online news editor