A commonsense view is that personal choice is desirable, so long as it does not inflict harm on other people. Nevertheless, there are periodic attacks on the idea. This is an appropriate time to consider the subject as May 20 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Stuart Mill, the philosopher whose classic book On Liberty is still the best treatment.

The issue became topical in the 1980s because of the invocation of choice by the Thatcher government in defence of its economic and social policies. At the mere mention of Margaret Thatcher too many otherwise level-headed commentators lost all sense of proportion and started to ask: “What is so wonderful about choice?” In Britain today, some of the same people who demonstrated against the former Conservative prime minister are out in force against Tony Blair. One object of their anger is his emphasis on extending personal choice in services such as health and education.