Made yet on any ground incursion. And this is the scene live for you in gaza today as the Palestinian Health Ministry Says the number of people who have been killed has hit 1200. Americas top diplomat the Secretary Of State, Antony Blinken has arrived in israel. Hell express us solidarity as he meets israeli officials but is also expected to urge restraint to protect palestinian civilians, as air strikes on gaza continue. Mr blinken is expected on friday to meet the palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah Faction is a political rival to hamas. We can speak now to lord darroch, kim darroch, who served as the uks National Security adviser between 2012 and 2015 and has also served as its ambassador to both the eu and the united states. If the eu and the united states. I can ask you first of this if i can ask you first of all about this visit by Antony Blinken, what can he hope to achieve . I this visit by Antony Blinken, what can he hope to achieve . This visit by Antony Blinken,
Of rabbits from the hat during party conference, he was under a lot of criticism because of the hs2 farce, so he has picked on one of the biggest groups in society, which are smokers. We have to remember that to put this in perspective, Smoking Rates have been falling for 50 years and they continue to fall, and the current Smoking Rates in all age groups are the lowest ever recorded level. So there is absolutely no need for this type of draconian policy. This is only going to fuel the black market because it will not stop young people smoking, they will simply get their tobacco from the black market, and of course once they are older they will get it from abroad. But there is more important issue, thats the whole in fertilisation of british society. Once you are 18 you are an adult and its up to you to choose whether you wish to drink alcohol, whether you wish to drink alcohol, whether you wish to drink alcohol, whether you wish to Smoke Tobacco and of course, fewer and fewer people ar