Cease this mad nannying of our diets

Why should the Government have an obesity policy? What business is it of Whitehall to tell people what they should or should not eat? Everyone is aware that eating or drinking certain things is usually bad for the consumer’s health: then it must be up to them whether they choose to abuse their bodies.

If the argument is about child protection, then why stop there? Should we make prospective parents take some sort of exam, or be officially licensed, before they are allowed to reproduce? I am sure someone in our nanny state is thinking of that.

And if it is about saving money for the NHS, stop to think for a moment about all the money the country is saving on its pensions, social care and health costs from the army of obese people who are all keeling over from heart attacks in middle age. I am reminded of Alf Garnett, who said he smoked for patriotic reasons – paying huge taxes and killing himself before he became a drain on society.

By all means slap an enormous tax on burgers, fizzy drinks and chocolate. But then leave it to the public to decide how to behave.