Today was a very good day for Sainsbury’s Justin King. As well as announcing a great set of results, he was delighted to have his name linked to his hero, Sir Alex Ferguson, amid fevered speculation on their reportedly imminent departures. It was a rare moment of light relief as journalists repeatedly questioned King on the “rumour and speculation” surrounding his future, on which he refused to comment, of course.

But it was also a very good day for grocery. Still recovering from the shock of a) sunny weather and b) it coinciding with the May bank holiday, the BRC announced this morning a reasonably upbeat outlook on the retail sales front. Although April sales were down on March, much of this can be laid at the door of an early Easter: figures for the last three months smooth out the difference and show growth of 2.6%.

Encouraging though these factors are, it’s the Queen’s speech we should all be cheering, and in particular the notable absence of two key pieces of legislation that have hung over the industry since the coalition government came into power: minimum unit alcohol pricing; and plain tobacco packaging.

The Grocer has covered these two measures in great detail in the past two years, and I have written repeatedly about the absurdity of both initiatives not out of blind loyalty to the industry but because 1) the likely effects on the nation’s health are as negligible as the industry costs are substantial; and 2) the government has better things to do than interfere in areas that are already highly regulated and showing clear signs of decline – especially when the country is in the midst of the deepest and longest recession in history.

Indeed, I’ve dubbed the coalition’s turnaround strategy the ‘Agglomeration of Multiple Distractions’, an ironic reference to the winning strategy pursued by Team GB’s Dave Brailsford, but which cannot be replicated by a government looking to sort out such an almighty economic mess.

Whether the government’s omission of these two pieces of legislation from the statute books is down to our extensive coverage, or the intense lobbying of the industry, or the Treasury’s latest cashflow forecasts, or the drubbing the government has taken in the local elections in the May bank holiday, I don’t know - although I’m happy to take at least some of the credit, should someone wish to bestow it upon us.

And, as we’ve said before, the coalition is certain to pursue alternatives at some point. But the electorate – and the chain-smoking leader of UKIP – has sent this government a clear message. It doesn’t want a nanny state. In the words of Bill Clinton: it’s the economy, stupid

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