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On no account should a total smoking ban
be allowed!
N. Rhodes
Although I gave up smoking about a year ago, I have a large bee in my
bonnet about this. On no account should a total smoking ban be allowed
! That is pure fascism, those who are trying to enforce it are pure fascists, and
as such are dangerous and should be fought tooth and nail as any dangerous
fascist should.
The solution to the smoking/non-smoking problem is to have separate areas. That works perfectly well and there is no valid reason to change it. There is a lot of medical propaganda about smoking that is unproven or false, notably on the subject of passive smoking.
It is pure humbug. The rights of smokers are just as important as those of non-smokers and let no-one say otherwise. Hitler singled out the Jews in the 1930's just like people are singling out smokers now. It is very very dangerous and these people must not be allowed to get away with this, if only because it is an open door to other things .........alcohol, fatty foods, car exhaust fumes etc etc. Rail Travel is dangerous, air travel, cars on the road.
You could argue that anything is dangerous and that it should be banned. The argument just doesn't make sense. I have not one iota of doubt in my mind that these would-be banners are wrong and they must be stopped.
The other thing, the most hypocritical thing of all, is that if cigarettes
were really as dangerous as they would have us believe, then their sale
would be banned, wouldn't it ? Ah yes, but there is too much money
involved. Cannabis, which is not dangerous at all, is banned ? Why?
No-one knows, but it does containes less dangerous products than tobacco.
All this goes to prove that the government are
a load of hyprocrites and should in no case be listened to. It's time
the public stood up to these people who really take them for a bunch of
idiots.
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Basic Freedom
R. Gore
As I listened to Radio 4's 'Today' programme it shows how far England
has degenerated that a government thinks it can do this. Burke saw government
suiting the temper of the people and a Nation as an evolutionary entity.
Mill stated that only another's harm should inhibit a man's liberty. And
our ancestors fought a civil war to establish government as the servant
rather than the master.
Now I smoke. I also eat well and keep myself fit. It always irritated
me when some lard bucket couch potato would criticise me for smoking when
I hit the gym 3-4 times a week and they break sweat when standing too
quickly. But know this-I would sooner that someone spent 12 hours a day
watching mind numbing crap on TV whilst stuffing his or herself with junk
food than have some health police start telling them how to live their
private lives.
So what is this about?
Cost to the NHS: if smoking kills then it is a good thing in these terms.But
then when did the NHS become so moralising? No treatment for criminals?
Asylum seekers? The unemployed? Rugby players? Mountaineers?
Dangers to others: I suspect smoking is a case of 'seek, on grants, and
ye shall find'.And how does the supposed level of risk compare to other
activities?
State control: eradicate any vestige of a free people.Destroy anything
traditional or making for distinctive identity. Get rid of any private
sphere. Tax and regulate. Drivers, fox hunters, smokers. Who's next? Universities
and schools in the name of equality. Businesses through laws on Health,Safety
and Employment Law. Food control in the name of health with health warnings
and bans. Alcohol. CCTV in your house-if you're not doing anything wrong
then where's your objection? Oh, and higher taxes to pay for it all. Sometimes
I think it as though a certain class of people can have us all dance to
their tune and build prosperous careers at the same time.
Yet curiously the things that never really bother the electorate never
get addressed.And no political party comes close!
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G'day from Queensland Australia,
P. Delben
Our State Government has just imposed a ban on Pubs & Clubs in Queensland
and it goes against everything that Australia stands for. Our Freedom
2 Choose is slowly being taken away from a culture that was formed around
the bar and the campfire. Where do we go from here?? You have our strongest
support for your campaign. GOOD LUCK!
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I totally support your cause 110%.
J. Gore
If Blair is successful the next step will be the banning of alcohol in pubs - it's no less ridiculous than their current plans. Does Blair and his repellent dictatorship think we can live forever if you're not allowed a cigarette with a pint? His policies would have us dropping like flies through boredom and frustration. The people who've proposed this have probably never had a minute of fun in their traffic-warden-attitude lives.
I think it's a sad irony that this country fought two world wars to preserve our freedom only to have it eroded from our own authority who 'knows best'. They're the same people who defend any other minority yet actively encourage discrimination against the smoker. They're as medalling and interfering, as they are hypocritical.
They defend themselves with the argument that more people don't smoke so that makes it a 'democratic' decision for the common good. Well if 51% voted to murder the other 49% that's a democratic decision but that doesn't make it right!
Thank you for giving us a voice, something Blair has proved he's incapable of.
Best of luck to you all, I shall get as many people as I can to sign your petition.
P.S. I don't smoke
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Where are those empowered to defend Scotland's vital tourism business amid the debate over smoking in public places?
I. Lawson, Scotland
Presumably these people have some expertise and understand the fragile nature of this business in many rural areas of Scotland. This in an industry that provides thousands of jobs in areas where replacing these jobs would be nigh impossible if something went badly wrong.
If a smoking ban went ahead, then with complete certainty following my recent visit to rural Ireland, I would forecast that the term "badly wrong" would not get close to the damage that would ensue.
In case our "experts" haven't noticed then in many areas of rural Scotland the only facilities available to a tourist are provided by free enterprise, usually in the form of a pub or small hotel. Facilities provided by the public sector are conspicuous by their absence. These private facilities are often provided by marginal businesses where the owners accept lower profits and turnover in exchange for a quality of life benefit that comes from working in a pleasant environment.
It is rare to meet owners of such businesses who have an embarrassment of riches from the very short summer season in Scotland and the heavily reliance on a small band of locals over the remainder of the year. What is certain is that if they lost 20-25% of their turnover through a smoking ban, as is happening in Ireland even before the winter sets in, then many of these businesses will disappear.
What will happen then? Will the local authority replace these lost facilities? Who will find alternative jobs for those who have lost their employment in these rural areas where no alternative employment exists? What is the poor tourist to do when he discovers no toilets, no food, no drink, nowhere to stay?
This consultative process becomes more suspect by the day, why the rush, other than to try and steamroller through this ill thought out policy before the true figures and damage in Ireland becomes fully apparent over the winter months?
This is potential disaster for Scotland's tourist industry and rural communities with small community after small community looking at the prospect of losing their only amenities and the tourist revenues for other businesses as a result. I would strongly urge the Scottish Executive to resist this latest campaign by the politically correct and adopt a sensible policy of gradual improvement in the provision of non smoking areas. A complete ban would be a smoking gun that would literally kill many of Scotland's already troubled tourist businesses.
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I do hope that you will make a forceful objection to this interference.
A. Kelly
I have just signed your petition on-line and I do hope that you will make a forceful objection to this interference. Just because somebody gets a bee in their bonnet about smoking does not justify such dictatorial nonsense.
Most places here at any rate have separate smoking/non-smoking areas and this works very well. Until comparatively recently nobody that I know of ever objected. It has become a fashionable trend or something. I eat out a lot - I cannot and will not cook - but, by Jove I sure will learn and thus withdraw a great deal of business from my local "watering holes".
A very well-patronised bar in Aberdeen tried this a few years ago and nearly went bust. They had to reinstate smoking!!! I think you should add that the powers-that-be would be better employed sorting out things like MRSA, the pathetic state of the NHS and such issues. Many people I know who have died of cancer or cancer-related illnesses never smoked in their entire lives. Best of luck,
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Outcasts
P. McNabb, Northern Ireland
Recently, I drove from N. Ireland to Dublin.
I was enjoying myself immensely, it was a beautiful day, the new E.C motorway was making good time, and we were going to Dublin for a big match and of course a few pints. The last thing I wanted was aggravation. Once we crossed The Border, we were in a different world. For the last thirty years, escaping the Troubles and going South was a treat. Dublin or Galway at any time of the year was great craic. Even the English enjoyed the social life, even though we had beaten them at the Rugby, an odd time.
So what annoyed me so much? Going through each town or village we observed crowds of people huddled together. What could be wrong?
Were we in Famine times again?
Were these food kitchens?
Had these people been evicted?
What were these poor people doing huddled together on the street?
They were SMOKERS!!!!
The IRISH ban on smoking has created an underclass that transcends even the class barrier. You may ask, do these people have rights? Can they be cast out, onto the streets?? In every big city and town you will find the down and outs, winos and junkies and those down on their luck. Society dictates that if they don't conform to "our norms" they are banished to the streets. Many organisations now swim against the tide trying to restore these people's dignity and healthy lifestyle.
Why does this government provoke so many people, maybe 1/3 of the population? Are they not afraid of a smokers, sorry a voters backlash? The greater good you say! What percentage of our people VOTE? I think in the last election an average of 40% voted. Northern Ireland is excluded from this norm; we can sometimes return votes of in excess of 110% - that is if the weather is good.
So who are the greater good that the government want to mollify? Think about this now. They are a fraction of the above 40% .How many people vote but don't smoke or drink? Can you see where we are going? Who is driving this policy? Why are people being made outcasts, put out onto the street? In some of the larger pubs and clubs proprietors have created a "back room" to cater for the smoker, but police have moved quickly to stop this leniency. NO ROOM FOR COMROMISE.
I do not smoke myself and I detest the habit. So why am I writing against the 100% ban? We have been lectured for the last 10 years, to learn to accommodate, to compromise. Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Bertie Ahern kept saying, society can only survive and grow if everyone works together. I remember when in 1972, I worked in the Olympic Village, on a day off; I travelled to see the Daccau Prison Camp. Even now as I write this, I still shiver at the horror that I saw that day. Now I know that this is an extreme example of peoples failure to live and work together, but my point is that on a notice board outside it said that the village nearby were innocent of blame for this genocide .I couldn't accept this. We were all responsible, some more than others, we must learn to protect our minorities, even our smokers. What is the next step? George Orwell's 1984 state is well in control. The State now has more control of our lives; computers reduce our histories, births, lives, loves, and deaths to jumble of digits. It is very important that we have our say.
BRITAIN WAKEN UP! Your way of life is threatened .Can your smokers be cast out? In Dublin and Galway pub life is on the street. Pubs are being robbed of their atmosphere. A way of life has come to an end.
Irish Publicans asked for a compromise, a ventilated smoker's room but there was none.
British Landlords waken up. Fight for the rights of your patrons, TO CHOOSE.
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Economic suicide for pubs
H. Howitt, Blackpool
It would be economic suicide for my pubs and its just one more example of political correctness and nanny state. The government are listening to the vociferous minority middle class fresh orange juice drinkers who frequent pubs once a month if they worry about their lungs they worry about their liver. Cars and lorries cause far more harm and my children are subjected to exhaust fumes every day yet are too young to drive. I own my pub, pay VAT, tax, insurance rates and a host of other spiralling costs. Surely I should be able to put signs at point of entrance stating our policy, ie. Smoking/No smoking. Who is going to police this policy, for instance, if I get a crowd of 20 lads and one or two light up, if they refuse or get aggravated do I phone our hand pressed police, because I certainly can't deal with it with this on top of all the other legislation while watching for drunks, under age drinkers and draconian powers from all the government agencies. Just imagine the police being called to all the bars for people smoking, this is going to cause civil disobedience and huge deduction in revenue and job losses throughout the industry.
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I applaude you on this website and hope that justice and freedom will prevail.
J. Owens, London
I have to commend you on this initiative, however, living in London I have not entered a single pub (and I frequent a few!) and seen any of your posters, signs, petition information. It only came to my attention in rural Suffolk! The one thing that I truely cannot understand is why the decision to ban smoking is not left to the breweries, landlords, management of each establishment. That way anyone entering a pub is making an informed choice, whether as a customer or an employee. If as a smoker, going out with non-smoking friends you decide on a smoking or non-smoking venue is completely in one's own hands, freedom of choice is maintained and the democracy that this country thrives on will not be compromised. Again, I applaude you on this website and hope that justice and freedom will prevail.
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