Boris Johnson cites moment he smoked a cigar in Islington to celebrate birth of his baby as reason not to ban smoking in parks
The Mayor smoked a cigar in an Islington park to celebrate the birht of his new baby Pic: Geoff Caddick/PA - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Images
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has described the moment he celebrated the birth of his child with a cigar as a reason he isn’t keen on banning smoking in parks.
Islington resident Mr Johnson described the proposal to stop people lighting up in the capital’s green spaces as “bossy and nannying”,
The suggestion was outlined in a report released today authored by cancer specialist Lord Darzi.
Mr Johnson said: “I have to think back to my own life two decades ago when my wife and I had a baby.
“It came to that point when everybody was asleep and I was in such a mood of absolute elation I wondered out into a park in Islington and it was in the middle of winter but I laid on the ground and had a cigar.
“I don’t want to be in a city where somebody can stand over me and say you’ve got to pay £115 for doing something that is of no harm to anybody except me.”
He added: “This idea in my view, as a libertarian conservative, comes down too much on the side of bossiness and nannying.
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“One feature of life in London is that we are a city that allows people to get on with their lives within the law provided they are not harming anyone else.
“I think smoking is a scourge and it’s right to discourage it (but) I am very sceptical at the moment.”
