A nation of 40-year-old virgins

Only by making mistakes do we gain invaluable experiences that allow us to traverse the precarious path from adolescence to adulthood.

Just as parents are faced with tough decisions in their own children's development, it is important for governments to recognise that there are often unforeseen benefits of leaving their citizens in harm's way.

Just like the over-protective parent, successive governments have proven incapable of determining the appropriate point at which to leave those in their charge to their own devices. All too often they become enveloped in the fear of being branded irresponsible with their citizens' safety, electing to meddle instead.

They opt for the easy option: expanding the scope of their super-nanny Government, naïve to the long-term detriment this causes their citizens as they become over dependent on the Government and the State.

The ongoing debates around a huge range of issues, from banning e-cigarettes to interest rate caps are examples of areas that the Government should think twice on before intervening.

Just as adolescent teens will feel an unreasonable compulsion to blame their parents for allowing them to make such mistakes, so too will we kick up a fuss when our high street bank charges us an exorbitant rate of interest for dipping into our overdraft following a profligate Friday night out at a super casino. However, it is precisely by allowing us to make these mistakes that we become wiser and better citizens leading more fulfilling lives.

Like our parents, the Government needs to learn when to remove their ear from the bedroom door.