From the Department of Bad Ideas - the smoking ban
While the idea of introducing ID Cards has reared its ugly head again and is rightly taking up column inches, another bad idea is much closer to becoming law and promises to be a similar hindrance to the rights of the British people. This needs a light to be shone on it.
You might recall that at the tail end of the last government, Rishi Sunak announced a ‘generational smoking ban’ during his conference speech. Unfortunately, it didn’t leave office with Sunak; Wes Streeting picked up the ball and is driving it through Parliament in a rather Uniparty approach.
Allegedly, the brainchild of Chris Whitty, of COVID fame, this ban prohibits anyone born after 1st January 2009 from ever buying tobacco products. Meaning, in the not-too-distant future, a 25-year-old would still be able to buy cigarettes while their 24-year-old friends will not, thanks to the Tobacco & Vapes Bill.
Unjust
It’s a ridiculous notion that a pair of fully grown adults will have differing rights, not by virtue of their actions but purely by a coincidence of birth. One is allowed to buy and use something which is perfectly legal, while the other, perhaps younger by a matter of weeks, will be committing a crime if he does. We see this as an affront to personal freedom.
Unworkable
How is this even enforceable? Every shopkeeper will have to ask everyone for proof of age, not just those who look under 21. How could they tell the difference between a 25-year-old and one born a few weeks later? Come to think of it, I imagine all having our mandatory digital IDs will make showing our papers a lot easier.
A ban of this nature is so deeply illiberal and unenforceable that only one other country has ever attempted this thing before; Jacinda Ardern's New Zealand brought it in 2022. Shortly later, she was voted out of office and the coalition that succeeded her scrapped it almost immediately.
It's not only less freedom that this bill will result in, Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland Minister and ERG chair, pointed out a legal landmine that it's heading for: The Windsor Framework. The Framework requires Northern Ireland to follow some laws from the EU, including their ‘Tobacco Products Directive’. If we impose something on Northern Ireland that goes further than existing EU laws, we risk breaching our treaty commitments. As Baker says, “the incompatibility is real, and the politico-legal implications are serious.”
Impractical
It will get worse for shopkeepers, too. Thanks to Australia, we already know that onerous tobacco legislation is a dream come true for organized criminals. Their habit of slapping more tax on tobacco has pushed the Australian tobacco market underground and created a $6.9bn (£3.3bn) hole in their budget. It gets violent, too. In 2023, there were over 120 fire bombings of convenience stores by organised crime groups fighting over territory. Melbourne has turned into Al Capone’s Chicago. We have these types of gangs in the UK already. Why are we giving them a huge opportunity to make even more illicit money? Will our government tackle the gangs by curbing our freedoms even more?
It's quite something that five years after Brexit, our government is working to subject us to more restrictive laws than even the EU can think up. It is not primarily about smoking; it is about defending our personal
individual freedoms.
The Freedom Association’s work is more vital than ever. We'll continue to shed light on the ways our freedom is being restricted and fight against them, but we always need your help to do this.
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