According to the Times of London,

Health lobbyists have decided that ice—creams are too much of a danger to children's health. MPs and health officials are planning a series of measures across the country that are already forcing Mr Whippy and his helpers into meltdown. Under an amendment to the Education and Inspection Bill to be put forward this week, local authorities will be given new powers to stop ice—cream vans from operating near school gates. ... Local authorities have in recent weeks banned ice—cream vans from using pay—and—display parking spaces and set up 'ice—cream—free' exclusion zones around busy shopping streets.

Score one for the Nanny State!

I'm not big on jingly ice cream vans myself, but then I'm not a kid. Kids seem to love them, with all their nasty sweet chocolaty stuff. (The Times solemnly notes that

A large single ice cream cone contains about 139 calories and 6g of fat. A chocolate Flake adds about 100 calories and another 6g of fat.

The English once had a delightful sense of the absurdity of such things. But the British "health lobby" has no sense of humor. They are deadly serious, more Cromwellian witchhunters than Bertie Wooster characters. At the same time, of course, the "health lobby" is a big advocate of liberated sex for teens, and the inevitable STDs are being happily spread by younger and younger adolescents. Syphilis good, sugar bad.

And as Theodore Dalrymple continues to report, the violent crime rate keeps rising in Britain, the "yob culture" of gratuitous aggression and self—destruction keeps spreading, and the politically correct authorities are far, far more blind to reality than Queen Victoria ever was.

But then Victoria probably liked her desserts with lots of chocolate.

James Lewis   5 08 06

Thomas Lifson adds:

I cannot allow a posting on ice cream vans in the UK to pass without directing readers to a wonderfully quirky comedy by Scottish director Bill Forsythe. Comfort and Joy leads movie fans into the dark side of the ice cream van world in Glasgow. All done for wry humor.