David Hockney is deservedly well-respected for the art he creates.

In fact there are plenty of people who will claim him to be Britain's greatest living artist. That, though, hardly qualifies him to pontificate with any authority on the medical merits or otherwise of smoking.

The Bradford-born artist's latest pronouncement on the subject, that if people are prevented from taking advantage of the calming influence of cigarettes they could turn to prescription drugs as an alternative, is a rather over-the-top reaction to the imminent ban on smoking in public places.

For a start, no-one is suggesting that people should be banned from smoking in their own homes, cars or back gardens, in smoker friends' homes or even on the top of Ingleborough. The new law merely bans smokers from inflicting their smoke on other people in enclosed public areas.

Everyone has a right to smoke if they so choose, as long as they keep their smoke to themselves. And everyone has a right to their opinion. But it is unfortunate that the plain-speaking Mr Hockney should have used the platform that his fame has provided him with to give out misleading messages on health matters.

It is right that the authorities should be taken to task and asked hard questions when new laws are introduced that restrict individual freedoms. But when there is such overwhelming evidence that smoking not only harms the smokers themselves but can also damage the health of people around them, to continue to campaign in favour of it seems particularly perverse.