May 12, 2006 10:15AM # Scotland Ups the Nanny Ante By [Radley Balko](https://www.cato.org/people/radley-balko) --- SHARE By my measure, the United States trails the United Kingdom by about three to five years when it comes to aggressively paternalistic public policy. Get ready for [this one](http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/print/news/5051743.shtml): > First the Scottish Executive wanted people followed home if they breached the smoking ban. > > > Now there are fears its health crusade could spell the end of traditional pie and chips in Scots pubs. > > > In two years time, bar and pub owners will be asked to provide ‘sensible eating’ policies as a condition of their licences. > > \[…\] > > > Glasgow MSP Bill Aitken complained: “Scotland will soon be a place where what’s not compulsory is forbidden. > > > “The Executive should butt out of people’s lives. It’s still—only just—a matter for individuals what they choose to eat.” > > > And Paul Waterson, head of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: “There’s potential for extreme interference and major problems.” I’ll say. Such ideas aren’t unprecedented here in the United States, of course. A few months ago, a physician wrote an op-ed in the *Chicago Tribune* calling on the Surgeon General to set national portion size standards for restaurants—and to enforce them. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).