This day, a law banning smoking in enclosed public places comes into effect across England. This ban has been met by all sorts of reactions from the public. Those with a distaste for second-hand smoke have welcomed the ban. Ministers say that billions of pounds spent on treating smoking-related illnesses will be saved. Sceptics argue that the collapse of the pension system becomes even more inevitable as life expectancy goes up as a result. A client I spoke to the other day commented that the ‘English people have been losing their freedom’. He is seriously contemplating moving to the Far East.

While I am a non-smoker, I am not really fussed. Yes, smoking may make the air more ‘breath-able’. Yes, it may mean riding a cab becomes a little bit more pleasant. However, I don’t think the ban would stop people from smoking completely. Smokers have known cigarettes to be addictive and contain carcinogenic substances. That has not discouraged them from the ‘pleasures of the puff’. What the ban may effectively do is to change ‘methods’ but not necessarily the ‘habit’. One should not underestimate human nature’s propensity towards the slightly mischievous.