If you are a smoker your home is the last bastion...for now!
Legal disclaimer
The opinions expressed by the authors on this blog and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of the Freedom2Choose organisation or any member thereof. Freedom2Choose is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the blog Authors.
The hotel above is in the heart of the ancient seaside town of Whitby (made famous by Bram Stoker and his book, Dracula) which is teaming with tourists and visitors 24/7. It [The New Angel Hotel] should have survived anything barring a Tsunami. Like any seaside town that faces the North Sea, when that cold icy wind blows towards it then you have to wrap up well. Tourists are hardy beasts and will cheerfully wander round in a force ten gale to see all the wonderful sights their chosen resort has to offer but when it comes to relaxation then they seek out warm and inviting pubs or clubs in which to imbibe a drink or three whilst chatting wistfully over digital photos of aunty Dot partaking of the Dracula Experience.
Since the 1st of July 2007 the law of the UK stipulated that the auntie Dot’s of this world, if they smoke, would have to go outside in all inclement weathers to partake of that particular verboten fruit, no matter how old or infirm. No matter what the anti smoking, Tobacco Controlling prohibitionists may tell you, over 9000 business have been wiped out and that is directly attributable to the smoking ban, period! For anti smokers to deny this in light of many sources in the hospitality industry is another attempt to pull the wool over the sheeps publics eyes.
MPs have started to listen now as many in the hospitality industry are clamouring at their doors in ‘the big house’ asking for some respite from the ban as it dawned on them that appeasement has cost them dearly. The irony is that appeasement doesn’t work as a political strategy, as Neville Chamberlain found out to his cost in the 1930’s, and we know where that led.
Since before the ban came into our lives Freedom2Choose have been at the forefront of dissent towards it and have a proven record of making representations to our governors. F2C has made many alliances with august bodies like the CIU and Shisha bar associations.
A Call to Arms As reported by Simon Clark on his blog Taking Liberties there will be a special reception in the House of Commons on the 29th of June 2011 hosted by The Rt Hon Greg Knight MP (Conservative), Roger Godsiff MP (Labour) and John Hemming MP (Liberal Democrat).
Our chairman, Phil Johnson will be attending along with Dave Atherton and a few others from F2C.
Phil Johnson and Freedom2Choose would like members and non members alike to help in delivering a strong message to the pre reception MPs about the destructive nature of an ill thought out piece of legislation built on a tissue of lies and misconceptions.
Phil has put together a letter and a submission form for circulating to landlords and club stewards. He will be taking the completed forms to deliver to the MPs on the 29th of June. A copy of the form is shown below.
The original printer friendly form and letter can be downloaded and printed from here (pdf) or here (word doc).
We rarely get the chance to make representations “face to face” with our MPs, especially when it comes to the smoking ban experiment, so we should grasp this opportunity by both hands and then some.
We need these forms filled in by your local landlord/steward ASAP and sending to:
Phil Johnson, Chairman, Freedom2choose, 37 Windley Road, Leicester, LE2 6QX.
I’ll finish with a quote from the chairman of F2C, Phil:
“Will this country finally wake up when every person has to carry a plastic type credit card, which goes through the till and alerts the barperson as soon as you have purchased your 5th drink, that your limit has been reached? This is your chance to show this government that you, the businessman, know your business best.”
I just knew that tobacco control freaks and anti smokers were a bunch of crafty bastards but how sneaky they can get never fails to surprise me:
AUSTIN -- A proposal to ban smoking in most Texas bars and restaurants was snuffed out Thursday by state lawmakers.
House lawmakers had tucked the ban into a spending and school finance bill, but Senate negotiators wanted it out and it was declared a dead. (My emphasis.)
Don't know about you but the kids in Austin must be a right bunch of tearaways, what with their drinkin' and a smokin' and all.
But I'm beginning to wonder if some the House Lawmakers were in the pay of Big Tobacco as...
Attaching the ban to a critical school finance bill also made it an easy target to be killed on a parliamentary maneuver by opponents of the spending plan, Deuell said. The smoking measure could have been found to violate legislative rules against bills that deal with more than one subject.
Now maybe people may understand why the likes of me do not understand political ideology and get sideswiped when voting.
Austin has one of those rarities in politics, and particularly in the Senate, Sen. Bob Deuell, a physician who opposes any such ban:
Deuell, a physician, also said he opposed the ban because he considers it an invasion of personal rights.
Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs! Personal rights??? Never heard of such a thing.
And business owners, well, they can go to f... Oh
Previous sessions have seen proposed bans beaten down by arguments favoring the rights of business owners and smokers to have the government intruding in their private affairs.
Spot the deliberate? mistake by the reporter in that last quotation, you can find the full story here.
When it comes down to smoking bans then it inevitability comes down to money, whoever coined the phrase "follow the money" deserves a knighthood for their perception. And when it comes down to money and tobacco control/anti smokers then we see the same untrue warcry from them:
But in a session dominated by searing debates over a strained state budget, supporters argued that a ban would save the state hundreds of millions of dollars treating patients with smoking-related diseases.
Ah, that old red herring eh. No mention of how many millions the state gets in tobacco taxes nor how many non smoking patients benefit from those tax dollars eh!
When it comes down to smoking bans, or prohibition as I see it, not only American states fall prey to the 'they've done it so we must do it, we don't want to be the nigger in the woodpile now, would we' syndrome, as we in the UK have found to our cost.
At least 29 states have adopted smoke-free laws and several more are considering them this year. More than 30 Texas cities have comprehensive smoke-free ordinances covering public workplaces and facilities with a patchwork of other regulations across the state.
So if I jump off the block of flats where I live tomorrow would anyone like to join me? If I can do it then you can. Truth is I want to live, If I was a business man I'd want my business to live also and I do not want government, local or otherwise, to legislate against either. My choice, my business.
For industrial purposes
Storax Sedan was a shallow underground nuclear test conducted in Area 10 of Yucca Flat at the Nevada National Security Site on 6 July 1962 as part of Operation Plowshare, a program to investigate the use of nuclear weapons for mining, cratering, and other civilian purposes. The radioactive fallout from the test contaminated more US residents than any other nuclear test, and the Sedan Crater is the largest man-made crater in the United States, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For war purposes
The Nevada Test Site lies northwest of Las Vegas where the U.S. conducted the majority of its nuclear weapons tests during the Cold War. From its founding in 1951 until the final Divider test in 1992, over 900 atomic explosions were detonated in this desert. In the 1950s, atomic tests were conducted above ground and resulted in devastating health effects to the "Downwinders" northeast of the site in Nevada and Utah.
For NO purpose
Nevada’s smoking laws “protect children and adults from secondhand smoke in most public places and indoor places of employment.” The Act took effect on December 8, 2006.
Reports of smokers discharging themselves early from Morriston hospital in Swansea, where smoking bans prevail also in the grounds, have prompted members of a health watchdog to call for provision for smokers.
Their solution of providing a shelter close to the entrance of the hospital is the only one permissible under the law, which bans smokers in public from getting adequate shelter. A Councillor points out that smokers in the doorway have led to 'incidents' resulting from non-smokers being compelled to walk through the smoke and smokers in order to get inside the building.
The problem appears to be without resolution so far – unsurprisingly, since the only sensible solution is to accommodate smokers indoors, in comfortable areas that will attract them away from the main access points. And this solution isn't available to the authorities, because legislators are content with smokers being blamed for the social order issues that are a direct result of smoking bans.
...life was simpler and governments didn't make laws to change your lifestyle choice according to diktat! You were [then] able to make your own decisions as long as your decisions didn't impinge on others. You were respectful, you probably asked if you could smoke on their premises and you probably took their polite answer of no as a given and stood outside the back door for a puff, their house, their party, their rules, period! But now it appears to be mandatory and you are forced, by law, to stand out in all weathers to enjoy the relaxitive effect of a puff on a cigarette, parties are a stressful event, don't you know, you might meet your future wife/husband there.
I love a drink, oh boy do I love a drink, and when I do drink I love to have a bit of tobacco to enrich the experience and all is well with the world until...the next day!
I want to repeat yesterday's experience, and I do, but halfway through a little devil in my head says STOP, you are drinking too much! Well I shot the devil but he still gets into my head.
You have choices in this life, that's a fact, but do you really, really want governments to make your choices for you because you can't be arsed to make your own choices???
If you want someone to make choices for you then you are an atomaton, not worthy of human dialogue.
I leave you with one of my all time favourite singers, I love this guy:
The man is recovering from a stroke and yet they still hound him for daring to flout the smoking ban:
A FORMER Bolton pub landlord was handed a court warrant by police as he waited to hear if he had been elected.
Officers entered the election count at Chorley Town Hall last Friday afternoon as Nick Hogan observed counting for Parish Council elections in which he was standing.
So what heinous crime did Nick perform to warrant Thames Valley police to send officers way way up north to humiliate him in front of his supporters and onlookers?
He was not arrested but missed the remainder of the count and the result as he was in discussions with officers about the alleged offence, believed to involve a summons for speeding. […]
[…]The interruption to the election count was made in full view of candidates, vote tellers, council staff and the press. (My emphasis)
As most of you know, the smoking ban was to have been reviewed in June 2010.
It was hoped that a proper Parliamentary review would confirm what is obvious to anyone with a functioning brain: that the ban has exacted a terrible toll on the life of our pubs, clubs, restaurants and Bingo halls in return for little demonstrable proof that the nation's health has improved.
Instead, we were given the disappointingly flimsy Academic Review (analysed in last month's newsletter). Its author is confirmed anti-tobacco campaigner Linda Bauld who - no surprise here - finds that the ban has had a positive effect on business!
Our response to the Academic Review can be found here.
!t is tragic that we are all - smokers, pub-goers and the hospitality industry as a whole - being treated with such contempt whilst this futile exercise continues to bankrupt our country!
***
On a happier note - recent spamming problems on the forum meant a need to suspend registrations for a while - but we are once again open for business! So, I will finish by thanking our new IT team who have been working hard to resolve this issue. Well done teamsters!
Phil Johnson. Chairman, F2C
AUSTRALIA - WORLD CHAMPION BANNERS!
Australia takes first place on the podium this month, as the leanest, meanest anti-smoking country in the world, despite Scotland giving it a good run for its money (see Scottish Report, below).
Government plans, for cigarettes to be sold in olive green packs all adorned with grisly pictures, drew praise from the WHO for setting “a new gold standard for the regulation of tobacco products”. The measure will be phased in during the first six months of 2012, although a legal challenge from the major tobacco companies looks likely and may cause some delay as with the Scottish display ban.
On a local level, residents of an apartment block in the Ashfield suburb of Sydney have banned smoking entirely from their building.
But one tobacco company has at last retaliated. Philip Morris has launched a campaign site called I deserve to be heard for the hard-pressed smokers of Autstralia.
PAUL HOOPER – INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
Poland became the latest country to impose a blanket ban on public smoking in November last year and, according to this report, it was a roaring success.
It comes as a something of a surprise, therefore, to learn that Paul Hooper, strategy manager for the Warwickshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team, has been asked to help ‘people in Poland to introduce a smoking ban’.
A FOI request establishes that Mr. Hooper’s jaunt is costing the Warwickshire taxpayer nothing, but not what he actually hopes to achieve, given that the Polish ban is already so popular.
MIXED MESSAGES
With no apparent sense of irony, WHO representatives have warned anti-smoking bodies to avoid close ties with the pharmaceutical industry - at a conference funded by Pfizer (Nicorette) and GlaxoSmithKline (Niquitin).
Pfizer also make Champix, a stop-smoking drug that made headlines last month with another tragic story of murder and suicide. This NICE-approved prescription drug works by acting on 'nicotine receptors' in the brain to reduce both the cravings and the satisfaction of smoking.
Despite a growing body of evidence that Champix is implicit in more than 400 suicides in the USA (where it is known as Chantix), it is increasingly being used in Britain as a first-line stop-smoking intervention (see comments here). It is important that anyone experiencing adverse reactions to Champix should fill out a yellow card.
(more on Champix below...)
SCOTTISH REPORT
As Scotland's newsagents prepare to register as tobacco retailers in compliance with the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Act 2010, a gang of smugglers hits the streets in the West of Scotland once again with smuggled tobacco. Both the VAT increase and more tax increases announced in the Budget have provided a ready market for traders, whose product is allegedly high in lead content.
A Scottish widow from Renfrewshire is to sue Pfizer, the makers of smoking cessation drug Champix, following her husband's suicide a year ago.
No such common sense on this side of the water, where recent tax increases have hit the poorest hardest. In readiness for the inevitable flood of contraband and counterfeit tobacco into the country, HMRC has prepared a package of measures that include:
20% bigger budget for policing ‘tobacco fraud’.
More international networking, to intercept tobacco illegally destined for the UK
New technologies
Heavier penalties
An extra £917,000,000 for HMRC
Reduced minimum indicative levels (MIL). These are the levels at which the amount of tobacco being brought into the country from the EU is suspected of being for sale, and not for personal use.
Old MIL
New MIL
Rolling tobacco
3kg
1kg
Manufactured cigarettes
3,200
800
*See here for all your cross-channel shopping* requirements
From our Dutch Correspondent
Hello I am Anna born in 1956 so I am almost 55, living in the Netherlands.
I was raised in time when smoking was like eating. Everyone I knew smoked and you could smoke everywhere - I mean literally! My teachers smoked in the classroom, even in kindergarten; my GP smoked; my dentist smoked in the hospital. Everywhere you where allowed to smoke.
Looking back we should have been on guard since the mid-70s. For me, I always felt it was going the wrong way but when I wanted to talk about it people laughed and said, "Get a life! These are Americans. It will never be here this way." This is the one time I am not happy I was right .
The thing that struck me the most was the junk science that gave way to bans
But there was a point in time - 2008 - when all smokers felt the hammer of the antis. It was when the smoking ban was implemented in the catering business. If I am honest it was much to my surprise that the small pubs defied en masse. They knowingly and willingly took the risk of fines. In a few months this group was growing and fines were paid by the customers. Some cases were won in court, stating : "When you have no employees you are hurting no one." Finally the case against bans was lost in the supreme court. It didn't change one bit in the pubs, which stayed the safe haven for smokers.
Finally we had elections and the new government gave way to a new law stating that a pub without employees and not bigger than 70 square metres was allowed to let people smoke. The current state is that much bigger businesses with employees also allow smoking. Everyone is making the rules that suit the customers the best.
The antis are now on collision course They have black lists on the internet where people can anonymously complain about caterers who allow smoking. Anti-smoke became anti-smoker and you see that the anti-smokers are so over the top now that even non-smokers are tired of the same tune.
Yes, there is a shift in Holland and we owe so much to the pub owners. I think that if we in Holland could make a difference - we should be an example to other countries.
They cannot impose a smoking ban when people fight it
side by side!
PUB NEWS
Punch Taverns makes the news for the third consecutive month, and for all the wrong reasons. Punch’s woes are blamed on aggressive expansion while times were good and interest rates low, but the most striking feature of the pubco’s financial downturn its timing.
Punch shares were valued at almost 1378.77p at their highest, on the eve of the English smoking ban. They are now worth c74.9p, a fall of 93.2%.
Latest British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) figures reveal a further downturn in the sale of both on and off-sales beer, with a fall of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2011.
Marston’s landlord, Andy Doughty, is passing brewery price cuts on to his customers in an effort to boost custom. However, even at 50 – 60p off a pint, his wet-led pub is struggling. In an impressive display of double-think, Andy says:
There’s a misconception people have got more money than they have. They are going out to food pubs but not wet pubs.
Random News
Update to last month’s report about Richmond College, which has now been furnished with a designated smoking area:
The area, “is very small, has no weather protection, is unlikely to attract many students as they would appear like pariahs, corralled in this yellow pen to be gawped at and made figures of fun,” and is, quite understandably, useless at keeping smokers from spilling out into the surrounding neighbourhood.
Japan Tobacco International has launched a new mini-cigar, Calisto. Smaller cigars now account for 60% of the cigar market, a growth that is attributed to smoking bans.
Belgium has been without a federal government for almost a year, but this is no protection for the people against intrusive laws. Exemptions to a blanket smoking ban were to continue until “sometime between January next year and 2014, but the Flemish Anti-Cancer League asked the court to bring that date forward.”
Tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris has defeated a legal challenge made by a group of Missouri hospitals suing for the costs of ‘smoking-related’ diseases. The court agreed with the defence that ordinary cigarettes are not defective or negligently-designed.
Eli Slaughter of San Diego State University's Graduate School of Public Health and his band of researchers have discovered that cigarette ends are bad for fish. So, remember folks – never mistake the fishtank for the ashtray or your fish will die!
Kate Moss’s love of smoking (reported last month) is shared by husband Jamie Hince, front man of The Kills. Neither of them are keen to work or socialise in ‘smokefree’ venues. Kate, in particular, demands, ‘couches, cushions, tables, heaters and candles to make it comfy for her to have a cigarette.’
You and us both, Kate!
Prince Harry triggers a national outburst of tongue-clicking as he resolutely fails to give up smoking. This makes him, in our opinion, the most newsworthy member of the royal family this month!
And finally...a clinic in Indonesia uses the smoke from 'divine cigarettes' to cure its patients. Clinic founder Dr. Gretha Zahar claims the smoke mops up free-radicals produced by mercury and, in addition to curing a range of ailments, has anti-ageing properties.
Freedom2choose:
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Tel/Fax 0845 643 9469 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting0845 643 9469end_of_the_skype_highlighting
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PETER HITCHENS, TOBY YOUNG, DAVID DAVIS AND SIR RONALD HARWOOD AMONG VOICES OF FREEDOM 2011
Peter Hitchens, Toby Young, Oscar-winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood and David Davis MP are just four of the speakers taking part in The Free Society’s Voices of Freedom series of debates in London in June.
Hitchens, the Mail on Sunday's famously acerbic columnist, has been invited to discuss smokers' rights with Harwood, a member of Forest's Supporters Council. They will be joined on Wednesday 1st June byAlex Deane, former director of Big Brother Watch, and Simon Davies, founder and director of Privacy International, to address the question, ‘What are smokers’ rights in a free society?’
Later in the month Toby Young, associate editor of The Spectator and founder of the West London Free School, will tackle the issue of education and the state when he addresses the motion ‘Is mediocrity for all preferable to excellence for some?’. The author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People will be joined by David Davis MP. According to the former Conservative party chairman, “It has never been a kindness to teach the weakest pupils alongside the brightest. It is unfair on both, diminishing the self-esteem of the weaker pupil and holding back the stronger.”
Others taking part in Voices of Freedom 2011 include Josie Appleton and Dolan Cumming (Manifesto Club), Dr Patrick Basham (Democracy Institute), Tom Clougherty (Adam Smith Institute), Dr Alena Buyx (Nuffield Council on Bioethics), Claire Fox (Institute of Ideas), Professor Dennis Hayes, founder, Academics for Acemic Freedom), Mark Littlewood (Institute of Economic Affairs), Andy Mayer (Progressive Vision), Tom Miers (The Free Society), economist Paul Ormerod, Simon Richards (Freedom Association), and many more.
Voices of Freedom: The Battle Against Big Government is organised by The Free Society, an offshoot of the smokers’ lobby group Forest.
The series is hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs and supported by Boisdale.co.uk. Participating groups include Privacy International, Manifesto Club, Democracy Institute, Adam Smith Institute, Liberty League, Forest and The Freedom Association.
Simon Clark, director of Forest and The Free Society, said: “The first Voices of Freedom series in 2010 was a great success. Every seat was taken and there was standing room only at four of the five debates.
“The Free Society believes in less government intervention in people’s daily lives. If we are to win the battle against big government we first have to win the battle of ideas. This is your opportunity to join the debate and make your voice heard.”
Mark Littlewood, director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: "Many members of the Coalition government have talked a good game on personal freedom. But they have yet to deliver anything much beyond further nannying.
“This series of Free Society events comes at a crucial time. Personal freedom is not an agenda that comes naturally to those in power. It needs to be thought and argued for at every stage."
REGISTER NOW - EMAIL EVENTS@THEFREESOCIETY.ORG OR TELEPHONE 01223 370091 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting01223 370091end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Full programme:
Wednesday June 1:
Civil liberties up in smoke: what are smokers’ rights in a free society?
Wednesday June 8:
Nudge and the nanny state: how far should government dictate our lifestyle?
Wednesday June 15:
Risk and the pursuit of happiness: is smoking, drinking gambling good for you?
Tuesday June 21:
Freedom, education and the state: is mediocrity for all preferable to excellence for some?
Tuesday June 28:
Definition of a free society: how does Britain rate in 2011?
Venue is the Institute of Economic Affairs, 2 Lord North Street, Westminster. Debates start at 7.00pm preceded by drinks from 6.15.
RSVP events@thefreesociety.org or telephone Nicky on 01223 370091 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting01223 370091end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
The Free Society (TFS) is an offshoot of the smokers’ lobby group Forest. We campaign on behalf of those who want less not more government interference in their daily lives.
…the BBC?
Yes it’s true folks, the erstwhile anti smoking BBC has landed itself in deep do do as the medical establishment sharpen their scalpels.
But first a disclaimer from the BBC:
This entry in no way wishes to endorse the smoking of tobacco. Having said that...
There are many ways of rolling a cigarette, but one rule of thumb is that the less paper involved in the construction, the better the taste. This method involves keeping the amount of paper to an absolute minimum.
Ingredients
Rolling papers - Rolling papers are made of rice or hemp fibre. Good brands are RizLa+ and Smoking Slim and they come in different thicknesses. (With RizLa+, blue is light, green is dark. They also do a brown liquorice paper.)
One normal filter paperstrip - If you travel to Amsterdam, you can buy these in pads of about 60 papers/small strips of card paper. If you can't get any, use any plain paper card (or of course, the cover of your rolling paper booklet) and tear or cut a strip of about 5cm long and 1cm wide.
Tobacco - Tobacco is, of course, essential for whichever type of cigarette you might wish to roll. Without tobacco, the exercise is pointless.
Dry hands - But not too dry…
At the end of this article the BBC thinks that smoking rollups are more debilitating than tailor made ciggies:
'Wise-up to Roll-ups' It is worth noting that according to recent research there is emerging evidence that roll-ups may actually be more harmful and addicitive than manufactured cigarettes. The NHS has launched a 'Wise-up to Roll-ups' campaign in the South West of England targeting people who smoke roll-ups, providing factual information that debunks some of the myths associated with the smoking of hand-rolling tobacco.
You can read the rest here if you want to learn to roll the perfect cigarette.
Needless to say an eagle eyed anti smoking doctor took up the cudgels and started swinging at the hapless BBC:
Senior doctors have accused the BBC of being "breathtakingly irresponsible" and damaging public health by advising readers on its website how to make roll-up cigarettes. Medical leaders have protested about an online article, entitled "how to roll a perfect cigarette" which they claim encourages smoking. Dr Gabriel Scally, regional director of public health for south-west England, came across the page when he was researching roll-up cigarettes for a local NHS anti-smoking campaign. He wrote to Mark Thompson, the BBC's director-general, saying: "By allowing this type of content to be carried under a BBC logo gives an implied level of legitimacy for what is effectively a 'How 2' guide to shortening your life and experiencing chronic, life-altering illness."
Well the BBC are sticking to their guns and are NOT going to remove the article. Here Nick Reynolds, a social media executive at BBC Online retorted:
[…]the article would not be taken down. It is located on a part of the BBC website called H2G2, which is intended "to encourage the community to write about all aspects of human existence for a collaborative guide to life, the universe and everything" and the piece had been written by a member of the public, not a BBC journalist. "Because the articles are not produced by the BBC they are not subject to the rules around impartiality that would apply to our own output. Smoking is not illegal, H2G2 is not aimed at children and the piece carries a disclaimer which reads: 'This entry in no way wishes to endorse the smoking of tobacco'. For these reasons we do not accept that the article should be removed from H2G2," Reynolds added.
I never thought I’d ever applaud the BBC but must say WELL SAID THAT MAN.
If the BBC’s article still has you baffled on the art of rolling your own then here’s TheBigYin’s ‘must watch’ video on the subject. Enjoy.
Not being a majorly political person you may be surprised at this blog from yours truly but what the hell, today is a great day for trumpeting-at last! The reason for this political blast, simple, the schoolboy has been soundly thrashed for his arrogance & impudence. I talk of Nick Clegg, the probable soon to be ex-leader of the condemned LibDems!
Just over a year ago he was invited (yes, invited) by Cameron (who had almost turned a landslide victory [20 point lead] into a fantastic defeat) to form a Coalition Government. The 'schoolboy in long trousers' had just had the best result he could ever have dreamt of and was enlisted as Deputy PM for his pains (should have remained as 'deputy dawg' really). I don't know just how far he hoped he could make his presence felt but within days he launched the now infamous 'tell us what Labour did wrong, for us to right'website.
Unsurprisingly, the smoking ban was way out in front of this list of grievances-as it should have been. In fact, more than 10,000 posts afforded Cleggeron every opportunity to see what had REALLY aggravated the people. All sorts of suggestions rained on the site, from the very sensible 'assassinate Blair/Brown/Arnott' to the equally sensible 'give licensees choice'. In fact, within those 10,000 + posts was the complete answer to the misery the Smoking Ban was heaping on this country!
Then HE spaketh unto his people:-
He said that "one of the principles of being a Liberal is, errrrrrrrm, in a sense, errrrrrrrrm allow people to do what they want as much as they can as long as long as it doesn't harm others-and smoking is one of those classic activities where it is not a harm free activity, it harms others around you".
In those 40 seconds of blustering his way out of any change to the smoking ban the Sheffield, Hallam consituent slaughtered any chance of respect he had from approx 15million smokers. You see it's not so much what this illiberal LibTwatDem said, but the hopeless way he said it! He sat there shaking his head as if there was absolutely nothing he could do about it when in actual fact (as stated) all the answers were on that website. For the sake of clarity let me elaborate:
Separate rooms for smokers/non smokers (signage to suit)
Licensees given the choice-smoking or non smoking (they know their own business best)
Staff/employees automatically had the same choice (no harping on about air conditions then)
Customers not obligated to enter either or both
Clubs to provide separate smoking rooms
Bingo Halls to be divided by giant perspex panels & ventilation
Restaurants to have choice, smoking or non smoking (though most people were quite happy for restaurants to be totally non smoking!)
Football Stadiums-well how the bloody hell can they be made smoke free?
That's how simple it really is Cleggeron-even a schoolboy in short trousers could work that one out yet you failed abysmally. You failed 15 million voters in those 40 seconds and now it has come back to bite you on the arse as even your own constituency has fallen to Labour-and they brought the bloody ban in you halfwit!
I have written to this junior politician, before & after his rapid elevation to power, yet have never received a reply from him regarding my concerns for the welfare of ALL the people of this country. He instigated the Great Reforms blog but ignored the most trumpeted of questions.
Cleggeron has championed the change in our voting system calling for and vehemently backing the Alternative Voting system which allows some idiot in 3rd/4th place to actually come out on top! (Must be thinking of himself again then!) It would seem that the AV vote is another cataclysmic disaster for our schoolboy in long trousers with 70% rejecting it in some parts of the country!
It is now abundantly clear, to even the 'dumbest blonde' that Mr 'plummy' sounding LibTwatDem Clegg has been offered the greatest opportunity of any 'office junior' and rejected it with great ease...for reasons known only to himself. OK, he thinks smoking is harmful to non smokers-segregate them then. Surely his advanced education at Westminster School, London taught him that choice is always available? By offering that most simplistic of solutions he would have endeared himself to at least 2/3rds of smokers. Added to that figure, the 'SILT' (schoolboy in long trousers) would have endeared himself to thousands of licensees & club owners who have suffered the brunt of the smokers wrath. 8,000 venues have gone to the wall, with another 2/3,000 guaranteed as Punch & Enterprise cull their portfolio's"to adapt to challenging times"(they don't tell you that they fully backed the smoking ban in the first place because they are too embarrassed!)
When you look at the possibilities that lay before the 'SILT' you have to be incredulous at the fact that he now has every chance of political obscurity.
Going for "AV" was just plain idiotic. It was motivated by greed, by the fact that he thought the LibTwatDems could pick up a bigger share of the seats-but then so could UKIP, Independents, the Green Party and even the BNP! It was a foolish move by one so privileged in education. I sincerely hope it is 'Cleggsters last stand' for to see anyone squander opportunities as this man has is criminal in itself!
He had the chance to fight the smokers corner (the self admitted 'puffer') but walked away from the opportunity to saddle himself with votes galore and ignored it. I have no sympathy for the LibTwatDem leader (maybe soon to be ex leader), for very few have such opportunity in life-certainly not the likes of us that live under such injustice!
When I think back, I can almost pinpoint where it all went wrong for this country.
The war was over, people were happy and willing to work, industry aplenty, education standards rising and there was a general air of expectancy within the people. I was a mere whippersnapper in the 50's but I distinctly remember my dad declaring Jerry Lee Lewis to be a 'bloody idiot' as he bounced his way through Great Balls of Fire when I was 7 years old-and I thought it was brilliant. Well, what 7 year old kid could appreciate big band music and THAT dancing? Michael Holiday followed with The Story of my Life, a beautiful song that has stayed in my mind to this very day. But that was it, even as young as I was I knew I was witnessing something special and as we marched into the 60's I knew I was right, the old guard were suffering terribly at the hands of the new era of music bursting through. The Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, pop music, the new sound was there in abundance. And then the greatest sound of all time-Motown!
Berry Gordy was the guilty party, it was he that introduced us to the Motown Label and it was simply supreme (no pun intended). I had never heard anything like it in my life.
The 60's were just an evergreen oasis of sounds to me as I could flick between 'our' music & 'motown' in an instance. I never tired of hearing Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops (originally the Four Aims) or Smokey Robinson yet neither did I tire of all the British bands that were rocking all over this wonderfully carefree country. Mods & Rockers were born and I knew we were in a great big vacuum of change; it was truly wonderful as the old Victorian ways slowly died and this modern culture prevailed. Life seemed so much more pleasant, so much more easy going, so much happier. I did what I had to do at school and left, I should have gone on to A Levels but my old man put paid to that idea. I never took any notice of politics though British Constitution did interest me at school-I wish I had taken notice as to be a career politician seems to open many, many doors in this day and age and provide an extremely acceptable living standard!
I remember 'The Who' released a 'belter' of a song "My Generation" which typified the mood of the late 60's and not long after that the worst thing that could ever happen to a nation occurred-the 'do-gooders' got a foot in the door! OK, so millions of errant schoolboys no longer faced the humiliation and pain of being caned by some stick wielding possible paedophile and the local 'bobby' could no longer clip you round the earhole to stop you entering the criminal fraternity but that was the time when this country started going downhill-fast!
Amazingly enough another rock legend 'Status Quo' released "Down Down" as the world was facing the threat of the do-gooders. Nobody forecast the immense creation as Sir George Edward Godber rose to prominence and delivered his speech in 1975. In actual fact Godber had this to say in 1967...
A DIRTY AND DANGEROUS HABIT
"The smoker" chooses for his own gratification to introduce into his own personal micro-environment the agent that will do him harm.
What we are trying to do is to persuade him that that voluntary act is not only a long term threat to his future, but also an inducement to others to adopt the same folly.
We are in fact asking for an almost infinite number of acts at self-abnegation so that a dirty and dangerous habit can be eliminated from our society."
Sir George E, Godber, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, British Ministry of Health London
Notice he is already on the track of smoker obliteration by citing that 'smokers were an inducement to others to smoke'! What a load of claptrap for people smoke if they want to smoke just the same as people eat mushy peas because they want to eat mushy peas. I can't stand the sight of the green sludge so I refrain from eating such, cannot a normal human being refrain from smoking if they don't like it?
Now we come to the WHO (not the singing variety unfortunately). The WHO were set up to monitor and improve health standards worldwide-it seems that they have given up on that idea! They state that "A major environmental factor affecting health is water quality." Righty ho then, so why aren't they concentrating on clean water for impoverished nations? If the third world was given the opportunity of running water and educated to even a moderate standard of hygiene then the WHO would surely be fulfilling their obligations and their own mandate! How many times do we (this country) send £millions in aid to some country, victim of the elements yet again. We recently sent Pakistan £73m but I haven't heard one single offering of what it has been spent on or even if it reached the very people it needed to reach! Again, the WHO stated that 10m people had been forced to drink unsafe water-so why, in the interests of human safety and health, had the WHO not already implemented a 'clean water programme' and paid for water plants and pipelines? Why have they left this important development completely alone, not mentioning it until disaster strikes?
The WHO are primarily concerned with peoples health-fair enough-but why have they ignored the major drug problem this world has? If the WHO want to make their mark on this world then surely they would want to stamp out the illegal drugs trade that ruins millions of lives every year-especially in countries like Columbia!
However, it seems that fighting the drug barons, who are likely to let rip with a 'Kalashnikov' is not part of their brief. They seem much happier having meetings, sandwiches & drinks whilst picking on a health problem they can control from their desks! So, as far as the WHO are concerned the biggest single health problem, globally, can carry on regardless of consequence or cost (financially or human). What a double-dyed bunch of cretins, typical keyboard warriors!
Knowing that they cannot control Colombian drug barons, or such from any other country, the WHO have targeted another plant, a plant that is totally legal-tobacco.
Since Godber spouted his words of 'perceptions' and 'others' the WHO has carefully set about destroying the happiness of smokers who's prevalence was utmost in the 50's when it was said "For centuries tobacco has brought mankind peace and cheer. Now some scientists say smoking is dangerous. But are their findings conclusive? The answer is No"
However, as the years have rolled by, the anti tobacco movement has grown beyond expectations as the few have whipped the many into a frenzy by spreading lies, quite happily, about the death sentences imposed by the merest wisp of SHS.
Even the American Surgeon General got in on the act by declaring that 'smoking one cigarette can kill you', well so can one footstep if it is taken in front of a vehicle!
But this sort of idiotic statement is now par for the course as (on average) 75% of people don't smoke therefore is easy for powerful lobby groups (with an abundance of pharmaceutical money) to brainwash 10%-20% of these people to such an extent that they actually turn them against their fellow man because they smoke. It would seem that the WHO are not overly bothered about the fact that For centuries tobacco has brought mankind peace and cheer. In fact peace and cheer is not allowed for the 25% who choose to smoke! Drugs are rife on the streets of New York & London yet smoking a cigarette is prohibited where ever they can find a reason to prohibit - note Mayor Bloomberg's idiotic open air bans! The ex smoking anti smoker (not anti tobacco anymore) now declares that smokers can't smoke in the open air!
Australia is now on about banning smoking in apartment blocks because some people claim they can smell smoke as it drifts past their window-are they extraordinarily long nosed Pinocchio's? Do they not smell the awful stench of exhaust fumes more?
They also claim that SHS marches purposefully along ventilation shafts to enter their smokefree residence at will-yet cooking smells from the 'barbie' don't! The mentality is incredible and yet politicians take up the call and try to ban smoking where ever they think they can.
The WHO, with their FCTC have created not just a 'clean air' policy but a policy of hatred, for smokers are now openly abused both physically and mentally by a majority that don't smoke so obviously the WHO really don't care about peace and cheer for mankind. Remarkably, we pay these egotistical keyboard warriors US $30,672,454.00 per annum to relieve ourselves of peace and cheer!
Roger Daltrey sang:-
People try to put us d-down..... Just because we get around.....Things they do look awful c-c-cold ..... Hope I die before I get old
Amazingly true lyrics for who would want to live to be a hundred years old in a world where freedom is allowed-if it suits the pharmaceutical industry?
The song goes on:-
Why don't you all f-fade away .....And don't try to dig what we all s-s-say.....I'm not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation.....I'm just talkin''bout my g-g-g-generation
Indeed, it would be nice if the WHO did fade away and concentrate on the worlds drug problems & smelly water in under developed countries but they obviously baulk at the prospect of leaving their cushy desk jobs. Getting out in the real world where they could do some real good is seemingly beyond their remit, but winding people up and causing misery to millions is obviously well within their scope.
Out of the Who and the WHO, I know who I'd rather live/ die listening to!
Last cigarette... airport charges smokers for that last minute drag
A final cigarette before that flight? It comes with a price tag at Belfast International Airport.
Smoking is a real drag at the airport where smokers must pay £1 to smoke a cigarette in a designated area. It is thought to be the first airport in the UK to introduce such a charge.
Smokers are asked to put a coin into a machine which opens doors to a special smoking area.
