From sin taxes to plain packaging, smoking bans to warnings about the perils of office cake, the reach of Britain's nanny state has never felt more pervasive or pedantic.

Only this week the public health panjandrums came up with a new wheeze - proposing reducing the calorie content of certain naughty foods by 10% in a bid to shrink the nation's waistlines.

Few know the intricacies of the public health bureaucracy – and the redundancy of many of their arguments – like our guest this week, the scourge of the scolds, Christopher Snowdon.

As Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Chris is one of the most passionate and articulate defenders of individual liberty against misguided, over-zealous paternalism. He joined our editors John Ashmore and Alys Denby for a fun-filled chat about booze, fags and how to deal with the Covid 'Smileys'.

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