Last orders

CAN Labour’s nanny state plans to ban smoking outdoors really survive economic reality?

As The Sun reveals today, while voters are broadly in favour of clampdowns on smoking, they fear it will lead to even more of their local boozers being closed.

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The pub trade is a lifeline for local communities.

Yet hundreds would close and thousands of jobs would be lost.

And for what?

The cancer risks from passive smoking outdoors are surely negligible.

And a crackdown on adult vaping — the main weapon in the NHS fight against smoking — makes no sense either.

Stamping over personal freedoms and decimating a key part of the economy for such little obvious gain is madness.

Pump & slump

ONLY a dash for economic growth can help pay to solve the problems in our NHS, public services and housing.

Why then does it appear that the Government plans to pursue a policy that will do the opposite?

Labour won’t admit that a hike in fuel duty would be a tax on working people.

But it very much is — which is why The Sun has lobbied governments for 14 years to keep fuel prices down.

Any reversal will be another brake on the economy — when we should be hitting the accelerator.

Poor marks

ANOTHER week, another win for the unions.

This time the teachers have got their way with proposed changes to school inspections. Unions have spent years accusing Ofsted of piling too much pressure on staff.

But using one-word terms like “good” gave a clear sense of how the school was performing — and made headteachers accountable.

Ministers must ensure that the new longer “school reports” properly mark teachers’ work — and don’t hide the truth from parents.

Shakertakers

PRICE-gouging on gig ticket websites is now out of control.

Up to 14million people vying online for just 1.4million Oasis tickets was always going to leave people disappointed.

But Ticketmaster hitting the lucky one-in-ten who did get a chance to buy with a massive price hike was nothing less than profiteering.

This “dynamic pricing” has no place in a captive market with no alternative competition. It is rank exploitation.

So come on Liam and Noel. Make amends for antics of ticket websites by putting on more gigs.