This page provides a regularly updated list of external sites. If you feel strongly about this subject you can make your voice
heard with comments, e-mails and petitions. The more our voices are heard, the more chance we have of being listened to.
No EU can not smoke outdoors! 28th June 2009
EU zealots will this week demand a ban on smoking OUTSIDE pubs and offices. The height of hypocrisy as they're still smoking away in the EU Parliament Buildings. A case of ''do as I say, not what I do''. You can add your comments.
No EU can not smoke outdoors! »
TV chef joins campaign for limited pub smoking24th June 2009
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has joined a campaign to amend the current smoking ban to bolster the pub and club industry.
The TV chef joined MPs from the three main political parties in calling for the comprehensive ban to be relaxed to help establishments losing revenue, laying off staff or facing closure.
One of the changes the group hopes will be considered is the adoption of the Spanish model - where venues with limited floor space can choose to be smoking or non-smoking, but venues larger than 100 square metres can have a designated, fully-partitioned, smoking room.
TV chef joins campaign for limited pub smoking »
Money to Burn10th June 2009
The DOH is giving councils £2.5m to help them ''encourage smokers to quit''. Could the money be better spent. Have your say.
Money to Burn »
Time is right to scrap total ban on smoking29th May 2009
Newspaper letter from a reader who asks if this could be an opportune time to question the smoking ban in light of the recent MP expenditure scandal. He lists many reasons why the ban has been a non-productive, unnecessary waste of money.
''This ban was implemented by an unscrupulous body of people who have proven quite clearly that they are incapable of effectively handling their own finances''.
Comments invited.
Time is right to scrap total ban on smoking »
A very British solution to a very British problem15th May 2009
Article from the Telegraph. ''When one of the regulars at the Cutting Edge pub in Barnsley read the fine print of the Smoke-Free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007 and told the landlady, Kerry Fenton, that she could evade the health fascists' anti-smoking regulations by creating a ''smoking research centre'' in one room, a classic British evasion of authoritarianism was devised. The pub now has a "smoking research centre" on the premises, where regulars fill in a questionnaire about their smoking habits and then proceed to enjoy a smoke and a drink as their free-born ancestors did for centuries.'' You can leave a comment.
A very British solution to a very British problem »
Display ban a step too far5th May 2009
An article from Lord Borrie in the telegraph about the proposed ban on the display of cigarettes. ''The Department of Health, which has enough on its plate already including the recent outbreak of swine flu, persists in seeking to ban the display of something which its own ministers have admitted is a legal product. What is more, the evidence as to the impact of such a ban from the two countries where it already exists is inconclusive''. Comments can be posted.
Display ban a step too far »
Healthcare isn't free19th April 2009
So says Prof John Smyth in this article from the Timesonline.
A fan of the smoking ban, he believes treating the consequences of alcohol addiction, drug addiction and obesity will prove increasingly difficult to defend.
He is also a supporter of the government’s latest reforms to deprive alcoholics of part of their benefits if they refuse treatment.
His intention, he says, is not to criticise but to encourage debate and you can have your say.
Healthcare isn't free »
War veteran fined £100 for smoking in hotel room1st April 2009
Not an April fools' joke, unfortunately, but a story of how a Ramada Hotel treated a 96 year old war veteran who dared to smoke in their hotel. You can comment.
War veteran fined £100 for smoking in hotel room »
Death to the nanny state 17th March 2009
Article about how the government has become wedded to social engineering and its contempt for the notion of individual choice. Comments invited.
Death to the nanny state »
Do as I say, not as I do13th March 2009
With breathtaking hypocrisy, the government is set to flout its own smoking ban and allow world leaders to use smoking rooms during the G20 economic conference in London next month. It is believed that laws have been changed to get around the smoking ban and provide specialist rooms that the visiting dignitaries can use - a concession they are not prepared to give to their own citizens. So, as always with this government, it's ''one law for one, and one for another''. You can have your say.
Do as I say, not as I do »
Nanny state has become a bully28th February 2009
Article from the Edinburgh News about the ban on tobacco products from open display. The writer says that ''We will be left with the situation where tobacco MUST be hidden in the newsagents – but pornographic magazines will be on display. Common sense doesn't come into it – drunk on power, bullies don't care what anyone thinks.
Tell me this. If the display of tobacco is the reason that young people smoke cigarettes, why is it that so many of our youth take cannabis, cocaine and heroin?'' Good point, which you can comment on here.
Nanny state has become a bully »
Non-smokers find ban is a problem for them, too11th February 2009
Since the smoking ban came into force, many non-smokers are finding they are missing out on conversations because they are not outside with the smokers – and one man has even started smoking again just to hear the end of a story. According to the comments he is not alone. It seems many people have started smoking because of the ban. You can add to the comments here.
Non-smokers find ban is a problem for them, too »
Smoking ban government's biggest mistake6th February 2009
Alan McVann, the GMB union convener at the Inbev brewery in Samlesbury, near Preston says the government must act now to save British pubs to stop the tide of job losses at a Lancashire brewery. He said: ''Instead of putting all these new restrictions on pubs, they should be doing something to help them. The biggest mistake the government has made is the smoking ban''. Leave your comments.
Smoking ban government's biggest mistake »
Campaigners challenge ban on smoking30th January 2009
A new campaign to help the struggling pub industry has been welcomed at a crisis meeting for the trade.
Industry representatives from north Essex gathered to discuss how to challenge the blanket ban on smoking inside establishments.
They believe the Government legislation, which came into force in summer 2007, has seriously damaged trade and they backed a new campaign called ''Save pubs and clubs – amend the smoking ban'' which was put forward by Simon Clark, director of pro-smoking lobby group Forest. You can comment.
Campaigners challenge ban on smoking »
What is third-hand smoke? Is it hazardous?19th January 2009
More on ''third hand smoke''.
What is third-hand smoke? Is it hazardous? »
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