‘Protect the NHS’: The nanny state is waging war on life’s pleasures

British political discourse has barely progressed since David Cameron told voters in 2010 that he represented the ‘party of’ our revered healthcare service. 

Over the past few weeks we’ve heard pledges – all clearly with an election in mind – ranging from the inconsequential to the ridiculous. Tired promises about community-led treatment. Receptionists-turned-‘care navigators’. School leavers working as doctors. But more often than not, they have been laced with the same pernicious message: that it is the behaviour of the British public that must change, rather than our healthcare model. That people must be regulated, even though failure is in the NHS’s DNA.

This is nothing new, of course. For years, the anti-smoking lobby told us that cigarettes were a drain on the NHS. We were led to believe that alcohol had a similar effect, even though the costs incurred by treating smokers were significantly outweighed by tobacco duty (and premature mortality), while drinkers subsidise non-drinkers.