Alexander Chancellor: Seduced by a Benson & Hedges packet aged 16

The government has done a puzzling U-turn over its plan to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes. It had seemed determined to put the plan into effect, but suddenly announced last week that it had had second thoughts. It was no longer sure that this would in fact discourage the young from taking up smoking, so it planned to wait and look at the effects of a similar measure in Australia before taking any decision. This has provoked fury among the Liberal Democrats in the coalition, who accuse the Tory leadership of sacrificing the health of young people to the interests of the tobacco companies. And I must say it does seem a surprising development when it has been agreed for years that seductive packaging makes a significant contribution to the allure of cigarettes.

I have certainly always been susceptible to it. I secretly started smoking Benson & Hedges cigarettes when I was about 16, being much attracted by the red tins embossed with the royal coat-of-arms in which they then came.