The curse of devolution: it's not funny and it's not clever

Further to my previous post about plain packaging in Scotland.

BBC News has the story, with Forest's response, here: Ministers aim to make Scotland 'tobacco free' by 2034.

See also: Plain cigarette packaging wins Scottish Government support (Huffington Post).

We have also been quoted by the Scotsman: Cigarettes and tobacco to be sold in plain packs.

The Scotsman headline is incorrect, btw. To the best of our knowledge the Scottish Government has absolutely no authority in this area.

Angela Harbutt has more to say about this on the Hands Off Our Packs blog: Scottish government can't go it alone – Westminster holds key to plain packaging in Scotland.

I would merely add that here is yet another example of what I call the curse of devolution – regional governments and assemblies posturing and preening in a desperate attempt to win whatever race they think are competing in.

This afternoon ASH Wales tweeted:

We replied:

I have always believed that without devolution we would not have a comprehensive smoking ban in the UK. After all, there would have been no Scottish Government to follow Ireland's lead (at a time when the Westminster government was seeking a compromise).

The Scottish ban led in turn to similar legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Sadly, no-one argues against devolution these days. For me, however, it remains the worst thing that New Labour ever did.

Overnight Labour created a whole new layer of government with hundreds more politicians and thousands of civil servants each seeking new ways to justify their taxpayer-funded existence.

Today's announcement is just the latest example of what devolution has brought us. It's not funny and it's not clever.

Update: Campaigners back plan for plain cigarette packaging (Herald).

See also Henry Hill: Prohibition, SNP-style (Conservative Home)