The Death of Liberal England

'I SMOKE TWO packs of cigarettes a day and drink wine. I won't live in America because you can't smoke. They cancelled smoking! But they should have cancelled all the guns! That's much more important."
So says actress Maria Schneider (of Last Tango in Paris fame) in Elle magazine. Could we please swop Ms Schneider for Patricia Hewitt?
In their infinite wisdom, our legislators have tonight voted- not for tougher measures against gun crime- but to ban smoking in all enclosed public places- including in private clubs.
On the same day, incidentally, as yet another police officer is shot.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the first country in the world to ban smoking in public places was Nazi Germany. The British way was always to find a compromise. Not any more. Isn't it ironic that the Health Minister who voted for the draconian ban, was, in her previous incarnation, President of the National Council for Civil Liberties?
And as we might have expected the Liberal Democrats voted for the ban. When are they going to change their name to the Illiberal Democrats? They are surely in breach of the Trades Description Act.