Get Off The Pitch !

As I drove into work this morning I caught two stories about how governments are interfering with the freedom of choice of millions of individuals.

From across the pond came the tale that the online gaming firm Partygaming have seen profits wiped out following Congress's decision last October making it virtually illegal for companies like them to trade in the supposedly liberal-minded US.

And in the UK Alan Johnson is proudly proclaiming that he's going to force tobacco firms to put graphic images which highlight the effects of smoking on every packet of cigarettes.

Governments generally seem to find it impossible to accept that people may take a decision that they (the governments) don't care for. Like a truculent Premiership footballer bad-mouthing the referee, they come back at us, questioning our decision and doing all they can to overturn it.

Matters like smoking and gambling should be down to the individual. Sure, they may have harmful effects. So, for that matter, do hundreds of government decisions every year. But we should be allowed to make up our own minds what we do with our lives. We should be our own referee, and these meddling, nannying governments should go and play a different game.