Saving us from ourselves: how Britain is learning to accept the nanny state

Smoking, smacking, smartphones for kids: never mind the “nanny state,” today’s national debate seems crowded with demands for decisive action from politicians to save us – or our children – from ourselves.

He has been unabashed about defending the tough policy, despite some of his more libertarian colleagues – including the business secretary Kemi Badenoch – claiming it is an infringement on personal freedom, and one, Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher, fretting that “nanny states do not raise warriors”.

Tony Blair gave his MPs a free vote on Labour’s ban on smoking indoors in 2006, in the face of objections from colleagues including the cabinet minister John Reid.

Coggon says the overwhelming support today for policies that were hard-fought at the time, such as the indoor smoking ban and compulsory seatbelts, shows that it can be hard to judge measures in the moment.

The sheer scale of the challenges currently facing the NHS – and the resulting costs for taxpayers – may also have helped to soften public concerns about policies that might once have been considered draconian.

But the backlash over Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emission zone in London – a tax, not a ban – underlines how fierce the reaction can be when some feel their freedom is infringed.