Spotted this on the Simple Politics insta
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It’s a good thing allowing the younger generation to vote IMO.
They will have fresh views and vote for parties that they need to move forward in life.
Make opinions without being tainted from historic events, it’s their world too after all.
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You could just as easily say their opinions aren’t based on their real world experiences.
Regardless, I’m all for lowering the voting age. If you’re old enough to work and pay taxes, there’s no reason your voice shouldn’t count.
Still not a fan of the smoking law. Adults should be able to make these sorts of decisions for themselves.
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I think most kids these days are probably significantly more clued up on what’s going on than older generations, what with such easy access to information. I would imagine the older people get the more likely they are to vote for the same party without actually knowing anything about the people they’re voting for or what the policies are, they just want that party. Granted that’s a generalisation from a very small sample size but it’s the impression I get.
Agree in principle, I guess it depends if the tax revenue covers the burden on the NHS of smoking related illnesses, and there’s also second hand inhalation to consider. I think overall a smoke free world would be better but also not totally sure choice should be taken away.
For me, smoking is the same as fireworks being sold in supermarkets. It’s acceptable because it’s always been a thing, but if it was only introduced now people would think it was mad.
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I’m incredibly glad to see this being revived if true. We will one day absolutely look back on smoking as an odd thing we allowed people to do much like when we put cocaine in everything and then were shocked to find that addictive substances sell…
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I would prefer the vaping to be looked at.
I know it’s different in parts of the UK but I can go months without spotting anyone smoking cigarettes. And then when I do it’s some old fart who’s likely done it for sixty years and will do it regardless until they die.
Vapes on the other hand it feels like taken over from those that would have had a cig in hand a decade ago.
Very few appear to have any consideration so you’re one minute following someone on the path and then breathing in a load of peach flavoured mist.
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I was about to come and say this. I don’t think smoking is even the ‘cool’ thing anymore amongst 18/19-year-olds.
Very few people are going to be impacted by the law-change because everybody vapes now.
No problem in bringing in the law then, if it won’t affect many.
Vaping I agree with - sick of them on train platforms and even inside tube stations and always some young teen who thinks they can do what they like!
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I’m a bit conflicted on the smoking issue. I agree with the sentiment that smoking is a pretty awful, addictive habit, that’s sold to us by unscrupulous companies, and I’d be glad to see the back of it. But equally the idea that, one day, smoking will be legal if you’re 39 years old but not if you’re 38 years old… that’s weird.
Tbh, I don’t think we’re in a bad place with tobacco: there’s no advertising, the brands are almost unrecognisable because of the packaging rules, they’re heavily taxed, and they’re increasingly unpopular. I’m not sure there’s much need for change, but I don’t see any positives in keeping the industry going either.
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I’m pretty sure that is not true.
Easier access to information, yes, but much more likely to live in an echo chamber given social media.
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That was my thought too. Massive amounts of disinformation around and social media being most people’s source of news isn’t promising.
The proliferation of media also doesn’t help. Back in my day(!) you watched the news because there was nothing else to watch. There’s just an overload of options these days.
Also doesn’t help that most of the high quality news is paywalled.
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Yeah, your pretty much right. It’s absolutely hilarious to see these smoking laws come decades too late. The market moved on, tobacco taxation made smoking too expensive to “get started” with, if anything all of the “younger” smokers I’ve seen started with vapes! I’m sure in 20-30 years we might see someone come along and ban vaping in a similar way, by which time we’ll probably have a new system
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I would say younger people would be more aware of the fact echo chambers exist and would be more exposed to a wider range of views, rather than older generations who probably get their news from the same single source they have for the last 20+ years.
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I can’t stand TikTok or reels on other social platforms.
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Pass.
I do have the TikTok app but it’s just full of rescue cat videos and spot bursts 
The cat videos can be really warming, the spot ones are grim and not even sure why they started showing in the first place 
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And four others got four years each. Excellent news. Hopefully a useful deterrent for others.
From the BBC:
The action resulted in chaos on the M25 over four successive days, resulting in nearly 51,000 hours of driver delays, the court heard. The protests closed parts of the motorway in Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.
People missed flights, medical appointments and exams. Two lorries collided, and a police motorcyclist came off his bike during one of the protests on 9 November 2022 while trying to bring traffic to a halt in a “rolling road block”.
Prosecutors alleged the protests led to an economic cost of at least £765,000, while the cost to the Metropolitan Police was put at more than £1.1m.
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