The UK has one of the biggest nanny states with freedoms decreasing at a faster rate than almost anywhere else in Europe over the past two years. Britain has the seventh biggest “nanny state” in Europe, according to one of the country’s most prominent think tanks.
The Nanny State Index from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) gives 29 European countries a score out of 100 according to how they regulate lifestyle choices. The sixth edition of the Index reveals that the UK has lept from eleventh place to seventh due to high taxes, growing restrictions on food and drink advertising, the tax on sugary drinks and the indoor smoking ban – including in all pubs and restaurants, and inside vehicles with children.
The report also notes the UK has the second highest taxes on cigarettes when adjusted for income in Europe and the fourth highest taxes on alcohol when adjusted for income.
Other measures include the minimum unit alcohol pricing for Scotland and Wales as well as plain packaging and a retail display ban for tobacco products.
The IEA states freedom has “decreased at a faster rate than almost anywhere else in Europe over the past two years”.
It added that the UK could climb even further up the rankings when the index is next published in 2027 due to restrictions on advertising junk food and tougher vaping rules.
Christopher Snowdon, report author and head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The UK is sinking ever deeper into the quicksand of heavy-handed government paternalism. The idea that adults should be free to choose is fading away and there will be politicians who see the UK’s position on the Nanny State Index as a badge of pride rather than a mark of shame.
“As in other areas of the economy, high taxes and draconian regulation are impoverishing us all and benefiting nobody.”
A law to phase out smoking, by gradually increasing the age at which people can buy tobacco products, is now going through the House of Lords. Meanwhile, the Government is pressing ahead with measures to restrict schoolchildren’s access to fast food and ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16s.
Germany who ranked bottom was called one of the “most liberal environments for consumers” alongside Luxembourg and Italy.
The think tank says Turkey, Lithuania and Finland are the worst for “state paternalism”.
