They have got to be stopped.

Any political party is a mass of views, from puritan to libertine and from authoritarian to libertarian. All types of people, all types of thought, often contradictory and very often hypocritical.

However any political party who has someone who can think and elucidate things like this is just begging to be given the biggest kicking in the polls....................ever.

One possible solution could be an entitlement card that people would carry and swipe when every time they buy Alcohol or Tobacco and record their usage. Is that too radical? I don't think so. For a long time the Government have controlled motorists with a system of licences where people enjoy the right and freedom to drive - as long as they conform to certain rules.

With the card, people who got into trouble for, say, minor crimes or drunk and disorderly conduct in public would receive a fixed penalty notice and 3 points on their entitlement card with points disappearing over time for in the same way works on driving licences.

More serious offences would result in endorsements on the entitlement card and the cardholder would not be able to purchase alcohol, tobacco or other drugs available for sale through the entitlement card scheme.

You can bet your bottom dollar that this type of lazy thinking comes from a prospective/sitting politician, the sort that follows the latest government trends and always spouts the party line, and you'd be right. They are the type who think speed cameras save lives, that alcohol bans in city centres will stop drunken behaviour, that 42 day detention without charge is a good idea. You know the type, mostly Labour, but the Lib Dems and Tories have a good few amongst them too.

People who drink aren't the problem! Drunks aren't the problem! People who commit violent crimes when drunk are! These are the people you target, not the law abiding majority, not those who simply want to go out and have fun, relax and have a good laugh whilst drowning their sorrows at being lead by such a bunch of authoritarian idiots who's soul concern seems to be leaching the joy out of everyones lives in the name of containing a minor problem.

I can't wait for this lot to be voted out, I'm not betting against the next lot being any better though, there's an authoritarian streak of idiocy that runs through the Tories as well.

The minute any politician thinks that they know what is best for the general public is the moment they are totally and unforgivably wrong.