Velvet Glove, Iron Fist

The new Snowdon Substack newsletter is out now.

Last week, the House of Lords Liaison Committee called for a “comprehensive ban” on gambling advertising, reversing its previous that there wasn't enough evidence to justify it.

I have never been fond of the term “demerit good”.

The government has announced some extraordinarily harsh restrictions on what kind of food can be sold in food.

I've got a new paper out with the IEA about a growing trend in the British economy: command capitalism.

I've started doing a nanny state newsletter for my Substack subscribers (free).

There are supposedly 80,000 child gambling "addicts" in the UK.

As laws become more preposterous and governments intrude ever further into the private lives of individuals, you might expect the public to revolt.

The government sent a noisy alert to every mobile phone in Britain on Friday to tell us not to light a barbecue.

This is pretty basic economics but apparently it needs spelling out… Sponsorship deals go to the highest bidder.

Andy Burnham thinks he can save the high street by stopping bookies and vape shops opening.

ASH are still playing dumb about the illicit tobacco market.

Last week, the BBC publicised the results of a study which claimed that sugar consumption in early life increases the risk of dementia.

Nineteen years after the hated smoking ban was introduced, more than a third of the public still think smoking should be allowed, in designated smoking rooms at least.

You may not care about the freedom of teenagers to buy caffeinated fizzy drinks, but it will not just be children who find things more difficult if a ban is introduced.

You wait ages for the worst quack science of the year to show up and then two contenders arrive at once.

Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore, incited howls of outrage even from his own supporters this week when he espoused the low-status opinion that pubs should be allowed to have a separate, well ventilated room in which people can smoke, as is the norm in m…

The government has created a £450,000 Tobacco and Vapes Implementation Grant "to support implementation and impact of the Tobacco and Vapes Act".

I've been speaking to the great filmmaker Martin Durkin about my book Inside the Sausage Factory.

From The Independent… Sales of illegal cigarettes soar as cost of living crisis bites The proportion of smokers purchasing cheap cigarettes from illicit sources has almost doubled since 2023, according to new analysis.

Interesting article in The Drinks Business about alcohol cancer labels...

As I have argued before, the anti-smoking lobby created a playbook which has become the Bible of the anti-obesity, anti-alcohol and anti-gambling lobbies.

I was invited to provide some balance to a short documentary on ultra-processed food recently.

There is a new element to the BBC’s World Cup coverage this year.

HMRC put the latest tobacco tax gap estimates out on Tuesday.

I spoke to Rohan Pike, the founder of the Australian Border Force’s Tobacco Strike Team, about his country’s black market tobacco nightmare. 80% of the market is illegal, tobacco tax revenue is down by three-quarters and there have been nearly 300 firebom…

Inside the Sausage Factory remains free to download and I've written an article for Cap-X about how rational actions lead to irrational policies.

Today sees the release of my new book Inside the Sausage Factory: The Illusion of Evidence-Based Policy-Making.

I've written about David Hockney's anti-nanny state activism for Spiked.

Keir Starmer's attempt to build legacy is, like Blair and Sunak's, a ban, this time on kids using social media.

I'll be writing more about the great, late David Hockney next week.