Confused believer in liberties hails ban

Former smoker PM David Cameron applauded the smoking ban in bars while suggesting that actually smoking bans in cars were going too far and he is nervous about it.


I've been trying to work out all day what he meant. He is a strong believer in civil liberties but the ban has worked. What does that actually mean?

Government and non-governmental agencies right up to international level have colluded to ensure that two people can't share a smoke convivially in comfortable surroundings anywhere in public – even in private clubs. That has to be an infringement of liberty. As liberties go, it's pretty basic. There is no other way to describe it. It means that an authority gets to dictate the terms on which people associate with each other, and blocks what has been an accepted part of public social intercourse for many decades. Somewhere between a fifth and a third of the population smokes – varying from district to district. So how does a liberty lover get to believe that this 'works'?

The mind boggles, but I can only assume that the Prime Minister finds the outcome of the legislation pleases him, as a non-smoker who might be trying to avoid lapses in the style of Clegg and Obama – and it has been successful insofar as the people haven't taken to the streets yet. Something that doesn't restrict his personal freedom doesn't enter the picture in his understanding of liberties. Prime Minister – real liberty lovers enjoy the concept of liberties. They don't sacrifice the liberties of others – other people's liberties are as precious as their own.

Sad to say, Labour MP Alex Cunningham (who is trying to criminalise smoking in cars with children present) might also find the Prime Minister amenable on the subject of motor car bans, if he tries hard enough to persuade him.