@43d7c4ea I also agree with the policy, but do you know what struck me the most? This is effectively the conference season to start the election run-in (even if I suspect the actual election will be shortly after next year's conferences), and one of his three big policy announcements was *a very gradual ban on smoking*?!

It's not that there's anything wrong with the decision, more that... is that really all they've got? It's a very small policy. It's something for the Health Secretary to spend two minutes on, to give their speech a happy ending.

Seeing it dominate a large part of the PM's speech as a major policy announcement is just baffling. Schools and hospitals are falling down, everyone is massively poorer than a few years ago, and he's devoting a huge chunk of his most important public speech to effectively banning smoking in about seventy years? Really?! 

 @7868adcf 

I know what you mean... even the #climatecrisis it seems an odd emphasis... but I long ago stopped being baffled by #Tory choices - all they are concerned is what the first page of the Mail or Express will be