IS IT not madness when we have a health minister so hostile to smoking that even a ban on lighting up in pubs is in the pipeline - and yet across the Cabinet table his colleague wrings his hands as more than £700million taxpayers' money is spent each year subsidising European tobacco growers?

But, wails agriculture minister Jack Cunningham, there is nothing Britain can do.

For all the EU's high-profile anti-smoking campaigns, a majority of member states back the tobacco subsidy, so the UK must comply - democracy, rules of the club, and all that.

Yet, what of morality? Are not governments guided by that?

This set-up is both a nonsense and an evil.

And because of that, and no matter what the EU says, the government has every right to withhold the UK's contribution to this wasteful featherbedding of foreign farmers growing a killer commodity.

Dr Cunningham should borrow the handbag that Margaret Thatcher used to swing at the Euro-grabbers and shout: "No!"

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