Fed up Labour voters warn against ‘Nanny State' as ad ban sparks freedom row
NANNYING ministers must stop snatching away public freedoms, Labour's own voters have insisted.
More than half — some 53 per cent — told a survey that banning adverts for products such as booze or cigarettes sets a dangerous precedent.
It comes as the Government is drawing up a partial ban on alcohol promotional material.
Three-quarters of voters who chose Labour last year said they should be free to make their own lifestyle choices, the poll for the Adam Smith Institute think tank revealed.
And 61 per cent of Labour voters agreed adults should be trusted to make their own decisions about smoking or nicotine use.
Just 13 per cent said they should not.
Maxwell Marlow, Director of Public Affairs at the Adam Smith Institute, said: 'Time and again, voters have told politicians that they want to be left alone in the choices they make.
'And yet nanny state ideologues still railroad through changes that either don't work, or drive the sale of these goods into the hands of criminals.
'The state needs to step back, respect freedom of choice, and concentrate on the big issues the public really cares about.'
Emma McClarkin, boss of the British Beer and Pub Association, has written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting about her 'extreme concern' over an advert ban's damage to the industry, which pays £17billion in tax.
She said: 'Labour entered Government promising to stabilise business and unleash growth.
'Yet we are seeing the opposite: a relentless layering of regulation and financial burdens on a sector that is already one of the most tightly regulated and heavily taxed in the UK.
' This approach is actively disincentivising investment and growth and runs counter to the ambitions Labour has set for Britain.'
The Twix ad BANNED from TV after being branded 'dangerous'
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