Oh, what an entitled bunch we are! With the advent of social media and tech, our voices have been lost and with it ‘control’. No doubt we all experience it, to some degree, with many of us being the guilty party, as we attempt to shout and have our say as we stifle dissent and attempt to be heard.

No doubt we can all recount tales of bullying controlling bosses, past, present or both, who cannot bear to have their autocratic utterances questioned despite reaching the profession promised land by being agreeable with every utterance their master before them decreed.

And then we have the Government. In power to ‘represent’ their constituents, it is, at a basic level, their role to make our lots a little more tangible, and easier, by giving us freedoms and protecting those freedoms and, it must be said, one of those freedoms has to be choice.

This ‘choice’ has been identified and addressed in certain quarters over time. Women now have the choice to decide if they wish to have an abortion. We have the choice as to which foods to buy, thanks to capitalism. We can, within reason, travel where we want, and do what we want, as long as it adheres to the law, and often we can do what we like outside the law as the criminal justice system is beaten, but that’s a column for another day.

But then, just when you feel ‘free’, the Government, and all other political parties, succumb to idiotic rhetoric and pass through the house some legislative folly that is little more than a virtue signal:

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, recently backed by MPs of all flavours is unworkable legislation, devised by simpletons.

As you are, by now, no doubt aware, the bill means that current 14-year-olds will never be allowed to purchase tobacco products and will be expected, when they are 52 years of age, to have their older, cooler mate, aged 53, go into the shop to illicit some Rothmans before they go behind the bus stop to enjoy their illegal wares.

It is a fantasy that Rishi, who has pushed the bill, will create a ‘smoke free’ generation as they eradicate one of the main sources of taxable revenue, before, no doubt, switching those taxes toward vape products which will likely multiply in price.

To police this unworkable bill, £100 on the spot fines will be dished out to put upon shopkeepers who, having given up a career in maths to serve their local communities, will have to use an age calculator to see if the potential purchaser, by courtesy of their birthdate and dog-eared ID card, is worthy of service. These fines will go to local authorities and no doubt a legion of powerless ‘enforcement officers’ will be deployed to spend their days waiting outside of the local corner shop as they harass the owner into making a costly mistake.

The black market will, or course, thrive. Having resoundingly lost the war on drugs, time and again, we are now gearing up for another thrashing as illegal imports, avoiding tax, will flood the streets, as will counterfeits which will do more to harm smokers than normal cigarettes ever have.

But no, this is not a pro smoking piece. I smoked 20 a day for 20 years (and now vape) and it is a disgusting habit and dreadful for an individual’s health. In theory smoking is bad, but even worse is the stifling of choice.

Who are we to decree that a person in their 50’s cannot legally smoke tobacco? It is not our place to do so. People smoke due to stress, cultural reasons or, as with me when I was a youth, peer pressure and the fact that many quite simply enjoy it.

By banning one thing, a utopia of health is not borne. People will find ways to buck the system, and it will be easy and, if they can’t, what’s to stop them finding another, more dangerous vice like class A drugs in which to fill the void?

Oh, and before you come back with the ‘it costs the NHS £17bn a year!’ argument, which is true, look at it another way: We are an overpopulated island: Why shouldn’t we allow people, if they choose, to limit their lifespans by smoking? More so, as smokers die younger, the stamp and taxes they have paid, which go toward their state pensions, will be saved as they won't live long enough to cash in the cheques, they have paid for all their working lives.

It’s a virtue signalling folly that MPs of all sides should take a long hard look in the mirror over. If you want my vote, then don’t limit choice. I do not smoke, but I want to retain the ability to choose if I want to in the future, and it is not Government's job to insist that I cannot…

  • Brett Ellis is a teacher