I have come to the conclusion that there are two main breeds of politicians. The ones that come into politics to tidy up the untidy aspects of life, and those who understand human frailty; blessed with the vision to harness it, for the benefit of us all.
The former love things to be in order; they see us as predictable beings that can be nudged in the ‘right’ direction, and enjoy working through spreadsheets, measuring the extent to which we have done so. They share a naïve belief that a new law here or a tweak to another there, is going to change life for the better. The latter tend to be more empathetic. They see people as individuals, each with their own story, strengths and weaknesses.
Examples of the former are Gordon Brown, George Osborne, David Cameron and now Rishi Sunak. I would put Mrs Thatcher, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage in the second category.
Successful Governments are in many ways a combination of the two, with neither becoming dominant. There is a role for both, as the visionaries need the tidiers to turn their visions into reality. The problems start when the tidiers get carried away, and forget the human element behind the numbers.
The tidiers also believe that by passing new laws people will change their habits – they never seem to consider how those new laws will be enforced. Their ‘vision’ appears limited to the notion that the passing of a law, or the erection of a sign, will simply compel us all to dutifully do what we are told. Not even when the police admit they cannot deal with the level of crime already taking place, will our politicians stop passing new laws that inevitably eat further into police hours.
The latest plan by our Prime Minister to phase out smoking is classic ‘tidier’ stuff. He clearly believes that smoking is something we should not do, and therefore it should be phased out by banning the sale of tobacco to anyone now 14 and under for the rest of their lives. For those of us who don’t smoke and dislike the smell of cigarettes, this would seem like a nice idea. However, it is an infringement on the freedom of those who may wish to smoke, and what right does the state have to stop them?
Mr Sunak has clearly not thought this through. For starters – how is he going to enforce the new law? Are retailers in thirty years going to be asking everyone to show age ID in order to stop those 44 and under from buying tobacco? When roughly a quarter of cigarettes at present are smuggled, does a measure of this sort not simply prime the smugglers pump?
Most people start smoking when they are under 18, when it is already illegal to buy tobacco. They do it then in large part because it is a forbidden fruit. How much more desirous will it now become to teenagers, who are told that they will never be allowed to purchase tobacco?
We have enough problems with illegal drugs which are easily accessible, despite enormous police efforts to curb their supply. One wonders why the Government has decided to attempt a ban on tobacco, when it has so spectacularly failed to ban the consumption of more dangerous drugs? At present, the Exchequer collects a very large amount of tax from tobacco products. This will gradually decline as today’s 14 year olds go through adulthood, and the number of cigarette retailers decline, moving supply to the tax-exempt black market.
Not only is the idea authoritarian, it is indicative of so much modern government policy: completely half-baked, and deserving to be quickly and quietly dropped. Perhaps instead, Mr Sunak might look at applying his zeal for tidying to a decluttering of the statute book. A repeal of some of the nitpicking, ‘tidier’ laws brought in by this government and its predecessors would be a good place to start.
Alastair MacMillan runs White House Products Ltd, a manufacturer, distributor and exporter of hydraulic components to over 100 countries. He is a supporter of the Jobs Foundation.
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