New Nanny State Push in Britain

As if they don't have enough to worry about already, Britons are being told by their government to stop smoking, stop eating so much, be more patriotic, drink less wine and -- oh, yes -- be more polite.

Beginning in July, a sweeping smoking ban comes into effect throughout Britain, making it illegal to smoke in restaurants, pubs or any public place under threat of an instant fine of around $100.

While government ministers say this will lessen the burden on the national health system, local city councils throughout the country will controversially employ squads of undercover inspectors to spot illicit smokers.

In addition, companies could face fines of around $2,000 if they fail to keep written records of times when employees illegally sneak off to smoke or if companies fail to submit these "smoking incident forms" to the nearest authority.

If Britons trying to quit smoking decide to look for consolation in food, they'll be confronted by continuing government warnings of an "obesity crisis."

With one in three girls and one in five boys projected to be obese by 2020, the British Medical Association annual conference later this month is likely to urge the government to take drastic action.

The motion under consideration would require social workers to consider obese children less than 12 years of age to be neglected and to take them into foster care.

Meanwhile, both major political parties here are embracing the idea of a national "Britain Day" -- a holiday when all things British will be celebrated.

Speaking in London earlier this month, Conservative Party leader David Cameron said that Britons had failed to develop a national identity like the United States.

"Of course, America is not perfect," he said. "But it does succeed in creating, to an extent far more evident than we have achieved here, a real sense of common identity."

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