PETER HITCHENS: The so-called 'libertarians' who oppose the smoking ban are fools. Cigarettes have...

Back in the blazing English summer of 1959, my mother, smoking as usual, was driving my brother and me through the Guildhall Square in Portsmouth , newly restored after the merciless bombing of World War II.

My brother Christopher, who at first joined me in my domestic anti-tobacco campaign, later became one of the most enthusiastic smokers in the Western world. He died of throat cancer in 2011, aged 62My brother, who at first joined me in my domestic anti-tobacco campaign, later became one of the most enthusiastic smokers in the Western world. He, who would have celebrated his 75th birthday last weekend if he had lived, died of throat cancer in 2011, aged 62.

But why? Like many children of that strange age, I was constantly befogged by clouds of cigarette smoke, in the car, at home, at school, when the Doctor came to visit, in fact pretty much anywhere you went. It wouldn’t be true to say that nobody knew then that cigarettes might be bad for you. It was pretty obvious they weren’t good for you, but if you might be killed by a bullet or a bomb or a torpedo that night, you also might not care much about the risks of smoking.

I recall the newspaper offices of the 1970s, especially a brilliant colleague of the old school, repeatedly in hospital for increasingly savage operations and yet determined to carry on smoking Capstan Full Strength, a brand which lived up to its name. Filthy with scattered ash, its windows yellow with nicotine, its ‘air’, if it could be called that, murky with stale smoke, its occupants provided a grim anti-tobacco propaganda show.

What a weird issue this is for them to protest about — considering that most of them did nothing to protest against all the real, major threats to liberty this country has experienced in recent years — not least the Covid shutdown.

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