Forget nitrous oxide, it’s noxious canines we should be banning

As politicians target antisocial behaviour, Will Gore finds it’s not laughing gas canisters smeared on his shoes

On numerous occasions I’ve had to stop my children ploughing into a pile of mess (Getty/iStock)

With a general election not a million miles away, the two main political parties at Westminster are trying to work out what priorities and policies are most likely to cut through when voters go to the polls, probably some time next year. Local elections this May could offer a glimpse of public feeling, so it’s a good time to test the water.

This week we’ve had ministers promising army camps and barges for asylum seekers, while Labour have trumpeted a hypothetical council tax freeze (for 2023, if they were in power). It’s only two weeks since Jeremy Hunt’s Budget which offered a pensions giveaway to the very wealthy, and since then both Labour and the Tories have been seeking to reset their climate plans. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems have been driving tractors down my local high street to show they mean business too.

We’ve also had the slightly unedifying spectacle of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer trying to outdo one another in their disapproval of drugs. In the red corner, there’s indignant Keir, outraged about cannabis smoke wafting around; while in the blue corner is Rishi the stickler, affronted by piles of nitrous oxide canisters blocking his way to the swings at the local park. To be fair, he is only little.