IN Scotland we are in danger of legislating against anything and everything which is potentially harmful to our health. Recently Jim Hume, a Liberal Democrat MSP for the south of Scotland, brought forward a private member's bill to ban smoking in cars when children are present; the Scottish Government wish to introduce an 'Irn Bru tax' on sugary drinks; introduce plain packaging for cigarettes and, it seems, give up on the idea of personal responsibility altogether.

This petty tyranny is all in the name of your health which you apparently have no control over.

Of course Barrhead suffers from health inequalities (I would never deny that) but wielding the force of the state in minimising your freedom is not the way to deal with these acute difficulties.

All of Scotland's communities face health inequalities caused by smoking, excessive drinking and the plague of drug abuse to name but a few.

To remedy these health inequalities we need a serious response, not just the passing of legislation to much fanfare when the real causes are underlying and still causing harm.

Some may argue that as a party the Scottish Conservatives and I support minimum unit pricing (MUT) for alcohol, and as such there is no difference in interfering in the lives of smokers and those who indulge in too much sugary food and drink. There is. I remain sceptical about MUT and it is a fundamentally different proposal from this nanny state interventionist agenda of, predominantly, our Scottish Government and certain MSPs.

If anyone was in doubt about the SNP's compulsive need to look to regulation and taxation as the solution to everything, they only need to look at this proposed 'Irn Bru tax'.

Instead of educating people about their health choices or being bold and incentivising healthy living they resign themselves to tired, statist thinking on the choices we all make as to our diet.

An independent Scotland run by the SNP would be a thoroughly miserable place for those with a sweet tooth: chocolate bars resigned to no taste whatsoever, a national drink overtaxed and without flavour as all fatty products are controlled by the newly anointed health cszar.

These freedom limiting proposals rather miss the point. We are all responsible for our actions; that is inseparable from our status as free persons.

Subsequently we must accept the health risks that we inflict on ourselves.

Banning smoking in cars for example is meant to protect young children, but simply passing another law is not the way to alter poor parenting - like all of the proposals listed in my introduction they deal with the symptom but not the cause.

Government does have a role to play in seeking to mitigate the societal effect of individual lifestyle choices: whether that be in aiding individuals to give up smoking, incentivising healthy eating or mitigating Scotland's alcohol problem, but if harmful products remain legal then blaming the product rather than recognising that individuals make choices as to their lifestyles is the last resort of the petty tyrant.