Government lobbies self (Part 94)

Spotted by Bob E in The Guardian, a Conservative MP writes:

But we need to go further than education. Studies show that it is young people who are also more likely to be seduced by the marketing techniques of the tobacco companies, which include the way in which cigarette packets are branded and packaged to increase their appeal.

The government needs to review all of the available evidence about the effectiveness of such a measure before going ahead with a plain packaging policy, but introducing plain packaging for cigarettes could certainly help to reduce the brand marketing appeal of cigarettes to teenagers, and most importantly, help to stop young people from developing a smoking habit that can only shorten their lives.

The 'research' to which he links is of course something commissioned by the government (the Department of Health), carried out by the government (a taxpayer funded university) and headed up by members of a quango.

Is there anybody out there who still believes that the Tories will be any less illiberal than Labour?