Once again the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom government has hiked up the taxation on cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. This time taxation on tobacco has risen by a whopping 11p on the price of 20 cigarettes and by 4p on the price of five cigars, while the government will continue with the 5% VAT relief on products to help quit smoking such as nicotine patches and gum.

Within the last couple of years they have banned smoking virtually anywhere. They are also making plans to introduce vivid pictorial warnings on cigarette packets and are in talks, with shopkeepers, about taking tobacco products off displays and keeping them under the counter. It won´t be long before they ban smoking in cars.

It is as if they have only just found out that smoking kills. When in reality they have known this for 30 years or more.

So why now do we have this massive campaign to stop people smoking? Is it just to, supposedly, save lives or is it just so called political correctness?

How comes the smokers don´t have a say in any of this? Why aren´t smokers lobbying their Members of Parliament, especially the ones that smoke, to slow down this headlong move to a total ban, because it looks as if that is the direction we are going in.

And when that´s finished what will be next alcohol?