As to the smoking bit... typical of this country to take a suggestion and push it to the absolute limit.
All they had to do was permit smoking in a small number of places.
The vast majority of smokers are quite happy to toe the line and we've all been popping outside or into the other bar/smoking area for years anyway, if we're among non-smokers.
It's the whole sledgehammer to crack a walnut philosophy... The same goes for the underage drinking problem... We've got a problem with kids getting hold of booze? Right. What shall we do about that then? Oh I know! Let's bung the prices up! Aye right. Punish everybody for the actions of a few. Sounds about par for the course
Then they have the gall to announce that they're going to "educate" parents and inform them how much alcohol it's "safe" for them to give their kids. Oh FFS!
Have a word!
Is this a follow on from "Oh I know, let's create a cafe culture just like wot they got in Europe, by allowing 24/7 licensing"? And then being somewhat surprised when they discover their bright idea didn't quite have the desired effect.