The government is planning to have cigarettes sold in plain packets. Is this going to make any difference and will it give cigarettes an aura and a minimalistic cool. Isn't it time we left smokers alone to enjoy their habit as long as it doesn't affect non smokers. What would a trip to Paris be if it wasn't for that wonderful smell of that French tobacco as you arive at the Gar du Nord.
Isn't junk food far more of a health problem and no one is suggesting that crisps, biscuits and cake should be sold in plain packets.
whatever the delights of Gauloises a trip to Paris is highly unlikely to be spiced by the smell of French tobacco - cigarette smoking is now less in evidence in Paris than it is in London, and that's saying something.
It's an interesting business, this most dirigiste of Governments aiming to emulate successive Australian government It might be fluff - Lansley was all in favour eighteen months ago, but nothing's happened, and yet it might be that the visceral (or epicurean) distaste for smoking, combined with the sadness of eighty thousand deaths a year will move this government and those that follow it to effectively wipe out smoking in the UK. That's entirely possible - cigarette smoking in Australia is not simply declining - the decline is accelerating.
One of the interesting things about this government is that it doesn't listen to the self-appointed sirens of 'Conservatism'. Mark Littlewood's demented blogging hasn't shifted Lansley on this, any more than Tim Montgomerie's plea to shelve the destruction of the NHS. For all that we can smirk about it, Cameron's self-confidence has infected the entire government - if they think something is right, then it's going to happen. That, of course, is why gay marriage is going to happen and why the budget was such a dog's dinner, although in the latter instance I'm still convinced Cameron was watching Osborne screw up with a sly smile on his face. I think Cameron learnt the lesson of managing the Conservatives when he forced through women only shortlists - for all the screeching from the shires, the Tories don't really object to being let off a decision.
So I think that we will see tobacco further marginalised in this country, or even further marginalised, because there's so little public smoking these days that when I see someone with a ciggy it's almost a shock.
