This year will be recorded as one of the worst ever for the Labour Party, and rightly so. It is now known by millions to be an inept government led by an incompetent man. The linked article shows just how much the British people loathe this sorry bunch of wasters.
Several fiascos are burned into my memory but none more so than the enactment of the most spiteful legislation ever dreamed up.
The Smoker Ban. The spiteful Smoker Ban. The divisive Smoker Ban. The economically crippling Smoker Ban. The discriminatory Smoker Ban. The unwanted Smoker Ban. The unwarranted Smoker Ban. The unpopular Smoker Ban.
Please don’t kid yourself that this was enacted for the health of citizens: nobody was at risk before the ban, the science is abundantly clear on that. For every study that says second hand smoke harms or kills, there are SIX that say it doesn’t.
We finally discovered how this government operates: they simply ignore the electorate. This also goes for the Tories and the LibDems. Scores of our members have been ignored when they have written in to their local MP/MSP/Ass Members. We have long memories and we will not forget this shameful treatment when the ballot box rolls into town.
Please don’t kid yourself that this was enacted in a fair way, or because the citizens demanded it: the Scientific Committee on Tobacco & Health (SCoTH) was made up of 16 “experts”, 14 of whom were, or are, in the pay of pharmaceutical companies. Smoker bans mean big profits for drug companies.
Please don’t kid yourself that the issue was debated fully in the House of Commons, it wasn’t: astonishingly, the Fox Hunting ban, which affects less than 10,000 people, was debated for over 400 hours. The Iraq War, (based on a lie) which affects all of us, was debated for 30 hours. The Smoker Ban, affecting 15 million people and their tolerant friends, was debated for just 3 hours. Does anyone else see the irony? They spent over 400 hours debating what is for most, an elitist activity, and just 3 hours “debating” what is primarily a working class activity. Its high time they rebranded themselves as Conservative Party MK II.
And please, don’t kid yourself that the Labour government know what they are doing either. This year has brought us more tales of sleaze, of criminality by our so-called leaders that I am embarrassed ever to have voted Labour. My personal details were one of the 25 million lost by a mail clerk at HMRC. Corruption is rife at the NuLabour camp, with Peerages going to the highest bidder. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Labour advertising Knighthoods on Ebay. Our sons and daughters have died in Iraq because we didn’t supply them with vital body armour. As an ex-soldier, I know that this hardware is as basic as a good pair of boots. That our government can send these brave men and women into an extremely hostile environment in nothing more than lightweight combat jackets is unpardonable.
But hey, the War on Smokers is right on track, so that balances things out, right? Despite Caroline Flint saying that 95% of the "harm" SHS causes are in the home, they decided instead to mandate the discrimination of 15 million people and keep them out of venues that were custom built for pleasure, which included, drinking and smoking. If smoker bans were truly enforced in the name of health, surely we should try to protect those at most risk? The ban was brought in to “protect the workforce”, but the pub workforce makes up less than 0.1% of the total. How “protected” they must feel today! Since the ban was forced on us on July 1st, over 200 pubs have shut down EVERY month. According to CAMRA, their pre-ban figures were 56 closures per month. The hospitality industry is in crisis, 50,000 jobs are at risk in the short term. More people die as a result of smoker bans. I can name at least two people: Nurse Cheryl Moss was stabbed to death as she was forced to go off-site for a smoke, and boxer James Oyebola was shot and killed asking three youths to stop smoking. Two good people who will be very sadly missed by their families, died needlessly. Yet when you ask for two or three names of people who have died as a result of second hand smoke, no-one can supply the names. The reason for this is simpler than you can imagine: they do not exist.
With over 3,000 new criminal offences pushed through since they took over at No 10 since 1997, this government displays its intolerance, pretty much for anything, right where we can see it. Britain today is not a nice place to live. In the name of health and our safety, we have deployed 4.5 million closed circuit TV cameras. That is more than a quarter of the worlds total. When in my home town (Manchester) I am recorded on camera over 300 times in a one day shopping trip. I can be jailed for two years simply for using my mobile phone while driving. I can be hauled off to the local nick simply for voicing my displeasure at a political meeting. Were I a Muslim, I can be expected to be jailed, without charge, for 42 days and nights, simply for using words like “terrorist” or “bomb”. I can be fined £50 for doing something I have been doing for 35 years: lighting a cigarette in the wrong place. My local airport reminds me of Beirut in the 1980’s: huge ugly concrete barricades and armed police. Taking a trip abroad, (something I do 30-40 times a year) is a nightmare. During a recent domestic trip (Aberdeen to London) my Zippo lighter was confiscated for no good reason that I could fathom. I have carried that lighter on planes for a quarter of a century, never once was I tempted to use it in an act of terrorism. This lighter held many memories for me, but that cut no ice with the jobsworths at the airport.
Britons are departing the UK at a phenomenal rate, and the NuLab morons are scratching their heads and asking “Why?” If they haven’t figured it out by now, they never will. Britain is ruled by fourth rate Prime Minister, hell bent on controlling every aspect of our lives. He and his government forget one thing: we will be controlling their lives come Election Day.
Freedom to Choose wishes all of its members and supporters a happy and safe festive period. We thank you for joining us in our David and Goliath battle, and we promise you that we will be here until the battle is won, by fair means or foul. Many of our members are urging me to advocate civil disobedience. So far, my Executive Committee and I have resisted. We will not hold them back for much longer. Democracy does not work. Writing to MP’s does not work. The legal system is deliberately priced so that minority groups like ours cannot avail themselves of it. The only recourse left to us may be law breaking. Never forget that we tried the conventional methods.
Our patience is wearing thin.
Colin Grainger
Campaign Chairman
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