Smoking in autos with children present is inconsiderate, ill-mannered and inimical to their health. But should it be unlawful? That is the query that MPs are to think about, when they vote on the Bill that has returned from the Lords.
For many, it will be an clear determination. Even some who generally think about themselves libertarian on this kind of troubles – not least the Mayor of London – have accepted that the indisputable damage carried out to the wellness of the young children ought to trump the individual’s correct to behave as they wish within their personal residence. However this kind of arguments lead us on to tricky terrain. What is there to distinguish a auto from an additional enclosed area of equivalent dimensions? Is this not an issue that can be dealt with greater by education and social pressure than by obtaining the police involved, and perhaps distracting them from more serious duties?
Such judgments are finely balanced. The ban’s advocates insist that this is not the commence of a slippery slope – even although the logic of their place, offered the injury that smoking and passive smoking do, is surely to move above time to a complete ban, the two in public and private. And criminal sanctions, and the attendant publicity, have been deployed successfully to impose social adjust and stamp out other hazardous and unsavoury practices: witness the campaign against drink-driving.
Still, Parliament is supposed to be the custodian of our freedoms – so MPs are honour-bound to believe specially very carefully prior to stripping away even people freedoms that are open to abuse. The Bill is set to pass easily, which is definitely a great point for the kids it will protect. But it need to be witnessed as an exceptional measure, rather than a prelude to further regulation of our private conduct.
Smoking in vehicles: a cloudy concern
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