Starmer's nanny state monster is out of control - Brendan Clarke-Smith

I couldn’t understand the logic of people calling for bans on 2-for-1 deals.

In my case I always saw them as a cost-effective way of stocking up the fridge or making sure I had a month’s worth of loo roll in the cupboard.

Whilst being far from having the physique of an Olympic athlete in the first place, my excess weight and declining prowess on the football pitch could probably be put down more to the ageing process than what I was purchasing at Tesco.

Likewise, I took a similar attitude when voting against the proposed smoking ban last April. I’ve never been a smoker and never liked it, but I couldn’t get my head around the principal that different adults would have different rights to each other.

We have moved away from this with votes for women, freedom of religion, equal marriage and with laws against discrimination based on race or disability, so why pick and choose based on age?

This is not an argument for votes at 16 either, but instead a recognition that people should be treated as adults and all adults should be equal.

Whilst the smoking ban fell with the Conservative Government, it now looks set to be resurrected like Frankenstein’s Monster in an even worse manner by Labour, including bans on even smoking outside at pubs.

Whilst the indoor smoking ban meant many establishments struggled to survive, banning it outside could well be fatal for many in the hospitality industry, who have already struggled to survive due to increased costs, taxes, cheap alcohol in supermarkets and recovering their trade following the pandemic.

There’s also talk of minimum alcohol pricing, which has already failed to prevent alcohol-related deaths in Scotland. Whilst we are on the subject of cigarettes and alcohol, we now see the Labour Government butting in on Oasis tickets.

Kit Malthouse made the point that these are private musicians, selling tickets privately to an event that will be held at private venues. Why should the government get involved? Surely this is simply a case of supply and demand?

I would pay a king’s ransom to see Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle reforming and performing their 1987 hit ‘Diamond Lights’, but surely that’s up to me and doesn’t need regulating?

Nanny state intervention is a slippery slope. Whether that’s through the introduction of daft and impractical 20mph speed limits in Wales, which are fine outside schools, but make little sense elsewhere, or trying to put taxes on takeaways because Big Brother thinks they are bad for you.

I order a curry practically every week – and occasionally suffer for it the next day if I’ve chosen one too hot in an attempt to prove my manliness – but surely I don’t need taxing extra or lecturing about nutritional quality? It never stops there either.

We now have school inspections that can no longer use headline terms like ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Inadequate’ because it upsets the teaching unions. Never mind the fact it gives parents useful information.

Then there are the threats to censor social media and scrapping freedom of speech protections on university campuses or laws banning criticism of other religions.

So let’s push back on the fun police and take back control of our lives. As Margaret Thatcher once said “when people are free to choose they choose freedom”.