Why governments' attempts to pick winners produce more losers than winners.
David Cameron's trip to Rwanda while his constituency and much of Britain are under water is causing controversy, so we'll take the unusual step of running two polls simultaneously.
Charles Kennedy was recently caught lighting up on the 11.05 from Paddington. Despite being a smoker he voted for the ban - yet he clearly didn't understand the detail of the bill. He allegedly claimed he thought it was alright, so long as he blew the smoke out the window! Good on him, I say - let's not let them ban everything just yet!
Is the government right to impose a smoking ban rather than let the premises owners (e.g. places of work, public houses) decide? Is this not setting a worrying precedent or should the government intervene where it sees fit?
From August 1st, all sellers of 4 bedroom houses will need to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and Home Information Pack (HIP). The hole the government digs with this scheme seems to get deeper and deeper....
"Freedom, immunity of the economic life from political infection, clean principles, and peace - these are the non-materialist achievements of the pure market economy."