Last week the Scottish Parliament heard a petition to achieve a review of the 2005 restrictions on smoking tobacco. It came before a hearing of the Public Petitions Committee.
Belinda Cunnison of Freedom-2-Choose (Scotland) who lodged the petition writes:
As on earlier occasions, the petitioners were not invited to give evidence, and the reasons for this are becoming clearer by the day.
The petition was given about one minute’s hearing and was immediately shunted upstairs to be looked at by the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee at an unknown future date.
Bizarrely, it would seem that the only formal written evidence being taken is that from commercial tobacco interests – which will no doubt then be ruled prejudiced, against the FCTC, and therefore able to be dismissed.
Belinda sums up the process to date, and her suspicions and concerns, in her excellent article here in ‘Think Scotland’. Please read it.