Twenty-five? Prove it!
Monday, August 24, 2015 at 9:48 Another fine morning in Edinburgh.
It's our last full day here and there are several shows I'm going to see including 'Margaret Thatcher, Queen of Soho' that Iain Dale has threatened to bring to the Conservative conference in October.
Meanwhile I'm sitting in the kitchen of our rented flat overlooking Rutland Square, coffee to my right, newspapers to my left.
They include the Scottish edition of yesterday's Mail on Sunday which features a report headlined 'Under 25? You need to show ID for cigarettes'.
It includes a quote from me:
"It seems excessive and patronising that the Scottish Government is happy to let people vote at 16 yet is bringing in Challenge 25 for cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
"This seems to be petty and designed to make buying cigarettes increasingly onerous."
It's one thing to prove your age if you're 19 or 20, but 25? At this rate smokers will soon need a chip and pin licence to buy tobacco, with licence-holders sent regular texts and emails 'encouraging' them to quit.
The Challenge 25 policy is one of several measures included in the Health Bill that will be discussed by the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee next Tuesday.
I'm giving evidence so it's hardly worth going home.
Reader Comments (4)
Given that they’ve been telling us for the last few decades how smoking makes smokers look a zillion years older than they actually are, this presumably means that even 14-year-olds nipping into the corner shop to buy a packet illegally won’t be asked to prove a thing. Mind you, if someone asked me for ID because “I didn’t look old enough,” I’d be delighted! “Nearly 60, madam? Goodness me! You don’t look a day over 24.”
Ah – we can but dream …
Another example of the Lifestyle Control on steroids.
Again isn't this more discrimination where tobacco consumers are being singled out? This should be nipped in the bud. I suppose Forest and tobacco companies are powerless to do anything as is normally the case.
Politicians are only for the scrap heap.