Liberals do not understand liberty

I only ever see breakfast TV on the rare occasions I holiday in England. This week. holidaying in Devon, I saw Polly Toynbee telling viewers it was safe for the cabinet to disagree over a smoking ban in pubs because it was not a matter of ideology. Obviously in her liberal world, the idea that the state should tell people what to do for their own good is so self-evident as not to be worthy of debate. The state has a duty to make people wear crash helmets and seat belts, stop smoking and chasing animals with hounds. However it has no responsibility to protect its citizens from the folly of unrestricted gambling nor to protect the unborn child. Such is the state of statist liberalism in the U.K..