The government’s proposed ban on sales of 0 per cent drinks for under-18s is deeply patronising. Young people like me are capable of making healthy choices without the government holding their hand, says Samiksha Bhattacharjee

The government may be about to ban zero-alcohol drinks for under-18s. Increasingly, there is a strange paradox at the heart of British policymaking. I’m a student – legally, an adult.  I can join the army, marry, and pay taxes. People younger than me – 16-year-olds – may soon even have the right to vote. Yet, according to health minister Ashley Dalton, my generation is so fragile and impressionable that we cannot be trusted with a can of alcohol-free cider or a bottle of Peroni 0.0.

The government says it is “exploring measures” to ban the sale of low and no-alcohol (“NoLo”) drinks to 16- and 17-year-olds. The justification? Even if there’s no alcohol, the mere flavour of beer acts as a slippery slope, says the nanny state, leading young people like........

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