Bill Carmichael: No change to the nanny state

But a strong secondary reason was their determination to attempt to micromanage every tiny aspect of people's lives.

Not a single day passed without another raft of announcements, initiatives and legislation designed to bully the ordinary citizen into changing his or her behaviour.

The nagging and nannying were incessant.

So over the years we had ministers telling us what to eat and drink, how to wash our hands, what bedtime stories to read to our children, and a stern finger-wagging warning not to leave leftover food on our plates. There was even a proposal – courtesy of Wakefield MP Mary Creagh – to give the state control over the temperature of our bathwater.

And who could forget the Government leaflet designed by Ed Balls's department last year, warning people not to strangle themselves with tinsel while decorating the Christmas tree or to stab themselves with scissors while wrapping presents.

Haven't these people got anything better to do? The answer is, of course, no.

The only sensible response to these attempts to infantalise the public was to tell Labour politicians to go away and leave us alone – and that's precisely what the electorate did last May.

But if you believed the coalition Government would treat voters as proper grown-ups for a change, then you'll be sadly disappointed.

First we had David Cameron's Ken Dodd impersonation when he announced he was spending 2m of taxpayer's money on measuring the nation's happiness – as though this was something a government could control. All he needs is a tickling stick.

Then this week came news that a swingeing new supertax is to be imposed on high-strength beers. Don't dare complain because we are told, like a group of naughty children banned from the sweet jar, that it is all for our own good.

And in the latest nanny state "initiative" health secretary Andrew Lansley announced that a new quango is to be established (this from a government that promised to get rid of quangos) called Public Health England, which will appoint 150 regional public health directors whose job it is to nag people to lose weight, drink less alcohol and quit smoking.

What is it about Britain's politicians that makes them think they know how to live our lives better than we do?

If you want to eat a triple cheeseburger washed down by a few pints of Tennent's Super followed by a pack of Capstan Full Strength, then I reckon you should be allowed to get on with it.

No-one pretends it is a healthy lifestyle, but you make your choice and you live with the consequences.

It is what being an adult is all about – and the Government should keep its nose out of it and let people get on with their lives.

Warm welcome

I knew we were in for a cold snap when I looked out of my office window in Sheffield this week to see a bunch of guys building an igloo in the car park. No joke.

The more environmentalists complain about "global warming" the colder our winters get. God – or if you prefer the earth goddess Gaia – must have a wicked sense of humour.

Has anyone, I wondered, carried out a serious analysis of the benefits of global warming? If temperatures rose by an average of 2C, in the northern hemisphere there'd be fewer deaths from cold, and fewer broken hips and limbs from falls. We'd also burn less fossil fuel to keep warm and perhaps cheaper electricity would stimulate economic growth.

So maybe global warming wouldn't entirely be a bad thing – if it ever happens that is.