When I originally flagged up that Jim Hume was intending to introduce a bill to the Scottish Parliament making it illegal to smoke in your car if you had children present, it’s fair to say that it inspired some heated discussion.
And then I’m sure we all forgot about it. I certainly did. Until I saw on Facebook a little while ago that today is the last day to respond to his consultation. By 5pm to be precise. After uttering a few sweary words, I thought I’d better remind you all before I filled it in for myself.
There are 11 questions to answer, but it shouldn’t take you very long. If you live in Scotland, and feel strongly either way about this, you’ll need to get working on it pretty quickly.
This is one of these issues where it’s perfectly possible to reach either conclusion from a liberal standpoint. As Facebook would say, it’s complicated.
Anyway, here’s the consultation document. The questions are at the back. Have your say if you can.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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5 Comments
Does an adult’s human right to self-damage override a child’s right to grow safely?
Not complicated at all.
Great; scrap it.
So is there any area at all where Scottish “Liberals” think matters currently decided by the state should be decided by the individual or business concerned?
The Libertarian campaign to end the smoking ban in public places has totally failed. I have no doubt that there are some newspapers you would expect to support it; the Daily Mail being the foremost amongst them.
But they are not, probably because the policy is popular. Even many smokers agre with it, as it helps them give up which is what they want them to do.
Another libertarian campaign that has failed is to end the compulsary wearing of seatbelts in cars. We dont even hear about it these days, but I remember when it was introduced and the issue was controversial.
It seems obviously that smoking in a car with a child principle violates JS Mill’s harm principle. Of course Liberals should support it!
@Geoffrey Payne,
I think there needs to be a one-in one-out system operating. So ok, if we campaign to ban smoking in cars, then we should also be campaigning to legalise something else, such as cannabis for example.