Nanny state of the nation

Here it is, the video of last week's 'Nanny State of the Nation' discussion at Old Queen Street Cafe in Westminster.

The event was organised in response to Rishi Sunak's plan for a ban on the sale of tobacco to future generations of adults in the UK.

The event also marked the publication of 'Freedom: Up In Smoke?', the latest in a series of Letters on Liberty published by the Academy of Ideas.

Moderated by Ella Whelan (Academy of Ideas), our panel featured me, Claire Fox (Baroness Fox of Buckley), Henry Hill (ConservativeHome), and Reem Ibrahim (Institute of Economic Affairs).

Over the next week we shall be posting a number of soundbites that were filmed after the discussion. They feature both our panelists and members of the audience.

The first one (below) features Claire Fox, founder of the Academy of Ideas, who told us:

"Over a period of time the British state will ban a 25-year-old, a 35-year-old, a 45-year-old, from smoking and treat them as if they're 14 and need the state to protect them. It's mad."

At the time of writing the clip has been viewed 27,000 times on X. That's probably as close to viral as Forest will ever get!

Update: 54,000.