Top health boss says he’s not running a nanny state and doesn’t care if Brits smoke, drink or die
Duncan Selbie claims he only gives people information to make the right decisions and it is up to them how they act
BRITAIN’S top public health official has slammed claims he presides over a nanny state — saying he does not care if people smoke, drink or die.
Duncan Selbie said he only gives people information to make the right decisions and it is up to them how they act.
He said: “It is not about telling people what to do, going around cutting cigarettes out of people’s mouths and saying they should not be drinking. I have never ever said that.
“We have given advice to say ‘drinking is enjoyable but you should try to have two days a week when you don’t because the evidence suggests it would be good for you’.
“I had somebody shout at me ‘Who are you to say when I should die?’ and I said ‘Die when you want to’.
“All we are doing is giving you the information to make these choices.’
Mr Selbie, chief of Public Health England, added: “It’s important not to say we are into nannyism. That winds me up because I never had a nanny in my life. It’s too important to leave it to the state. This is about individuals.”
He has backed interventionist measures, such as the sugar tax. And he urged hospitals to ban smoking anywhere.