Are we entering a new prohibitionist era? Drinking and even smoking are still perfectly legal, but there is a sense that they are less acceptable than they once were. Cigarettes have become more expensive thanks to punitive taxes, and the authorities would like to do something similar with alcohol. The government drive to de-normalise smoking and drinking is aided and abetted by health professionals, but is it any business of the government to seek to change and mould our behaviour? Speakers in this compelling Battle of Ideas debate include Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and author of Women’s Health for Life; Rob Lyons, deputy editor, Spiked and author of Panic on a Plate: how society developed an eating disorder; Dr Michael Nelson, director of research and nutrition, Children’s Food Trust; Chris Snowdon, author of Velvet Glove, Iron Fist and The Art of Suppression: pleasure, panic and prohibition since 1800; and Christine Thompson, UK government relations, SAB Miller.
