The case for Letby’s innocence looks weaker than ever
The annual Panorama documentary on Lucy Letby appeared on BBC 1 this week, barely a week after a more one-sided pro-Letby…
Which European country has the largest nanny state?
Across Europe, Nanny’s influence is growing: there has been a steady erosion of liberty for those of us who like…
Activist-academics push to Make America Teetotal Again
What constitutes a safe level of drinking? For some activist-academics there is none – and they are loudly lobbying for…
Is the sugar tax to blame for the slushy drinks scare?
The alleged ‘success’ of Mexico’s tax on sugary drinks inspired George Osborne to announce a sugar tax for the UK…
The truth about blinkered single-issue campaigners
Why do single-issue campaigners oppose solutions to their problems? Once you become aware of ‘not invented here’ syndrome, you start…
How to fight back against the nanny state
Have you ever noticed that there is no pressure group for people who want the government to leave them alone?…
How to catch a traitor
A quarter of a century after the first series of Big Brother, there is still some life in reality TV.…
What’s the point of banning Elf bars?
Part of me wishes that disposable vapes had never been invented. Until they arrived, it seemed like the battle for…
Taxing the gambling industry just won’t work
Ahead of the Budget on 30 October, Rachel Reeves is being bombarded by lobbyists urging her to loot their enemies.…
What is Chris Whitty up to?
There was a period during the pandemic in 2020 when the pubs were open but you could only go to…
Why was George Orwell a socialist?
When George Orwell’s publisher, Fredric Warburg, read the manuscript of Nineteen Eighty-Four in December 1948 he wrote a rapturous report to his…
Obesity isn’t behind the sicknote crisis
The European Congress on Obesity is an annual treat for health journalists, because it guarantees a week of ready-made stories…
Why no-fault evictions shouldn’t be banned
A decade ago, left-wingers started using the phrase ‘zero hours contracts’ to refer to what had previously been known as…
Banning disposable e-cigarettes won’t stop kids vaping
The government thinks it has finally found a popular policy. Better still, it is a policy that it can implement,…
Why did it take so long to give Tim Martin a knighthood?
The news that Tim Martin, the founder of JD Wetherspoon, has been given a knighthood in the New Year Honours…
KFC is right to take on the public health zealots
There was some good news for the people of Sunderland last month when local councillors managed to stop a small…
Sunak has doomed Britain to a total ban on smoking
It is an indictment of the intellectual vacuum in British politics that when a prime minister is looking for a…
The many flaws in Sunak’s smoking wheeze
In the run-up to the Conservative party conference, Rishi Sunak was promoting himself as a serious politician who wanted workable…
Rishi Sunak is right to get rid of 20 mph zones
Are we seeing the real Rishi Sunak at last? Since telling the nation on 20 September that his government will…
Snus
As the government considers banning disposable vapes because they are thought to appeal to children, it is worth reflecting on…
When will the Scottish government get a grip on alcohol deaths?
Is there any amount of evidence that could convince the ‘public health’ lobby that one of their bright ideas didn’t…
Reintroducing wolves to Britain is pure insanity
Should we release packs of ravenous wolves into the English countryside? The answer is so obviously ‘of course not, are…
Mission creep
Is it time for Britain to leave the WHO?
The unstoppable rise of the nanny state
It has been a pathetic sight to watch politicians pleading with the supermarkets to lower food prices. Inflation has yet…
Jonathan Portes – my part in his downfall
In 2018, the Equality and Human Rights Commission commissioned and promoted a report which predicted that an extra 1.5 million…
