Our nanny state holds back Britain’s young

Clever people often believe that their cleverness gives them the right to control other people. Nowhere is this more manifest than in nanny state Britain. 

So fixated was Public Health England on shielding us from our own bad decisions that when an infectious disease arrived on our shores the quango was woefully unprepared. Junk food advertising bans were prioritised over protecting us against an epidemic. 

And so determined are politicians to insulate us from hardship that they attempt to regulate anything that moves.

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Cristina Odone

Parents are asking too much of teachers

Arguably the most troubling recent development concerns the tacit raising of the age of majority. Since 1969 it has been accepted that we are treated as adults by law from 18. The age had broadly trended down over the years. Until 1970, for instance, you had to be 21 to vote. There are still outliers – the age of consent is 16, giving blood 17, you cannot rent a car until 21 – but the law has generally coalesced around 18 as the age when people possess the physical and mental maturity to make their own choices.