Liberty Alone

At Comment is Free

I fail to see it as an advance of liberal civilisation when a man on his way home from office or factory cannot enjoy a cigarette with his beer in a private club that has agreed to his doing so.
…
The smoking ban is a classic instance of what central government enjoys most, meddling in personal behaviour (ID cards, NHS records, Asbos, smoking bans) while ignoring forms of social control which it understands least, family and local self-discipline. There is a yawning gap between Labour’s all-pervading state interventionism, which it laughably calls “liberal”, and the tradition of English liberalism…

He also makes good points about the way smoking was being driven out of many places by consumer demand. Personally I think it was this process of offering choice which caused such a reaction amongst the health authoritarians who seek to ‘look after us’ since it would still give smokers places to smoke which is unacceptable to those who would control us.

(hat tip Tim Worstall)

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