Smoke, drink and eat as much as you want, Norway’s health minister says as she slams nanny state interfering in people’s lives

NORWAY’S new head of health has sparked fury after telling people they are free to gorge on junk food, guzzle booze and smoke fags. Speaking as she takes up her post, popularist politician Sylvi Listhaug said she does not want to boss the public about healthy living. Ms Listhaug, known for her anti-immigration views and […]

NORWAY’S new head of health has sparked fury after telling people they are free to gorge on junk food, guzzle booze and smoke fags.

Speaking as she takes up her post, popularist politician Sylvi Listhaug said she does not want to boss the public about healthy living.

Reuters

Ms Listhaug, known for her anti-immigration views and a loathing for the nanny state, was making her stance clear after being appointed as the new health minister on Friday.

The deputy leader of the centre-right Progress Party told the official Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK): “I do not plan to be the moral police, and will not tell people how to live their lives, but I intend to help people get information that forms the basis for making choices.

“People should be allowed to smoke, drink and eat as much red meat as much as they want.

“The authorities may like to inform, but people know pretty much what is healthy and what is not healthy, I think.”

Smokers were made to feel like pariahs, she said, adding: “So they almost feel they have to hide away, and I think that’s stupid.

“Although smoking is not good, because it is harmful, adults have to decide for themselves what they do.”

But Norway’s Cancer Society’s secretary general said Ms Listhaug’s comments were potentially harmful to public health.

Anne Lise Ryel told NRK: “Many will adhere to what she says.

“That is to say, public health [has been] set back many decades.”

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