Tesco pyjama ban shows modern-day manners are a minefield

Those brought up to respond to the sotto voce cue NOCD - 'not our class, dear' - as a signal to step away from someone or something are doubtless breathing a sigh of relief, although whether this will be enough to tempt them away from Waitrose remains to be seen.
Others are no less pleased. Let's be honest: how often have you heard a weary sigh from the denizens of south Liverpool at the mere sight of mothers in pyjamas at the school gates? "It's just so north end."
Down in South Wales the first mum to be frog-marched from her local Tesco, Elaine Carmody, 24, complained "I've got lovely pairs of pyjamas, with bears and penguins on them. I've worn my best ones today, just so I look tidy."
You might laugh, but there'll be plenty of Tesco customers who see Ms Carmody's side of the story. Why, then, has Sir Terry chosen to go to war with his own customers on this front?
Let me hazard a guess: standards. The pendulum seems to be on the turn against the permissive liberality of the noughties and maybe Tesco is just picking up, early, on the zeitgeist. It is, after all, what's made them such a roaring success.
In which case, perhaps Waitrose does have cause to worry. Look out for that next quarterly trading update.

Dougal Paver is managing director of Paver Smith in Liverpool