The UK is obsessed with banning everything. Cigarettes are just the latest thing, earlier this year they banned restaraunts from having sugary drink refills, which in practice meant that even wetherspoons started taking out the hot chocolate machines. Basically encouraging you to drink even more alcohol, because now the options for alternative drinks are getting more limited. During my uni days, I used to go to spoons for the cheap hot chocolate and study/chat with friends, can't do that anymore!
Several years ago, after the sugar tax had been implemented, it pretty much created a market where only original Coke is the only soft drink that doesn't include artificial sweeteners. The artificial sweeteners taste like shit and give me a headache, but now an insane amount of products have this garbage in them, simply because the government taxes anything unhealthy to high heaven. Of course, this doesn't solve the issue that loads of people eat unhealthy crisps, sandwiches loaded with mayo and fat, and biscuits full of sugar. If you want convenient food options, usually only junk is available.
The approach of the UK government is to ban and take things away, rather than try to introduce alternatives which may be healthier and still enjoyable. It's also true that many apps are requiring British users to submit ID verification, which is crazy. There's always some licence, permit, or permission required for everything. Even though most British people don't like the idea of mandatory ID cards, you will be IDed in a shop to purchase paracetamol or drinks containing caffeine if you are in your 20s or 30s and look young.
It's not just unhealthy vices that are strictly regulated either, if you're a person with chronic pain, or mental health issues, it is nearly impossible to get any strong medication in the UK. The approach to a lot of issues there now is paracetamol and CBT therapy, if your issue is long-term and more complicated, they will just expect you to suffer forever, because "it's better than having a medication which may have addictive potential, it's too dangerous!"
The philosophy is it's better to be safe and miserable, rather than ever taking risks. Life can't always fit into such neat and tidy boxes, but people who want to control you would rather take away that autonomy and freedom of choice than let people decide for themselves how to live their own lives.
