NOW, the government nannies want to cut down on the amount of smoking shown on TV to stop youngsters from copying the stars who light up.

Show me the kids who want to be like Dot Cotton of EastEnders and I'll show you some seriously-disturbed ones!

But, really, where will this interfering outlook, expressed this week by health minister Tessa Jowell, end?

For a start smoking is a legal activity, engaged in by some 15 million people - who, incidentally, pay billions in taxes that keep Ms Jowell's NHS going.

Would not TV drama be totally fake if all or most the characters were non-smokers?

But never mind the impact of such censorship on the credibility of the plays, what worries me is what would follow if the sanctimonious cranks got their way.

For I well remember the serious discussion once given to complaints by Princess Diana about soap operas showing too much pub-going and a group of health-faddists once calling for advice on healthy eating to be worked into their scripts.

If this government's stubbing out of smoking on the telly gets the go-ahead, every prodnosed lifestyle lobby group in the country will be after improving our lives by doctoring what's on the box.

No doubt, their word for it is 'education.'

Mine are 'brainwashing' - and 'No, thanks, I can make my own decisions.'

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