Coalition Repeal Bill.
On May 19th, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced what has been dubbed ‘The Great Repeal Bill’ with this promise:
“And as we tear through the statute book, we’ll do something no government ever has:
We will ask you which laws you think should go.”
An amendment to the unnecessarily spiteful nature of the smoking ban has been provisionally tabled as part of this bill.
We believe that an amendment which allows an element of choice for the UK’s 12 million smokers is not only fair to grant, but also grossly unfair to deny if we are to profess to living in a free and civil country.
Our aims are very moderate. We have no desire to inflict our smoke on people who do not desire it and ask that private members clubs, pubs, and restaurants that derive a significant proportion of their income from cigars, be allowed to allocate a separate, well ventilated room for patrons who wish to smoke.
The UK and Ireland are the ONLY countries in the EU to have treated smokers in such a spiteful manner. All others have implemented workable solutions which respect both smokers and non-smokers alike.
Over 5,000 pubs, clubs and bingo halls have closed, and 100,000 have been made unemployed by this vindictive law. Much of this damage could have been easily avoided by providing accommodation for smokers where those who are sensitive to smoke wouldn’t be remotely affected.
As part of the Great Repeal Bill, we ask that the relevant clause in the Health Act 2006 be amended to afford a social environment which is acceptable to all.
Dick Puddlecoat has started a Facebook page which will give you more information HERE – do please support him and help to put back the element of choice.
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1
May 22, 2010 at 09:25 -
I fear it might be too late for some. Some of us have rediscovered the pleasure of eating and drinking in our own homes where we can smoke between courses if we want to. And have a decent conversation. Smokers are so much more interesting I find, especially when they are not twitching for a nicotine fix.
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2
May 22, 2010 at 09:40 -
Will the Con-Demned win a reprieve?
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3
May 22, 2010 at 09:44 -
As a non-smoker I whole heartedly agree that this law was unnecessary and overzealous in its scope. I’d like to see it completely removed from the statute book but failing that the compromise outlined would still be better than the current situation.
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4
May 22, 2010 at 10:32 -
Smokers are so much more interesting I find,
Interesting observation. Could it be that non-smokers would rather not be within conversational range of you, whether or not you are actually smoking at the time? (Smokers rarely understand how unpleasantly they smell to non-smokers, all the time.)
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5
May 22, 2010 at 11:19 -
Oh, I think it is more to do with not spending our entire lives passing judgement on other people. There are quite a few things that I don’t like, but I am far too well mannered to make a fuss about it.
The fact remains that businesses are going down the drain and people are losing their jobs when this could have been handled in a much fairer way.
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6
May 22, 2010 at 13:12 -
“Oh, I think it is more to do with not spending our entire lives passing judgement on other people.”
Note the word “our”. So you see smokers as a separate grouping?
I always thought people were were people. Some smoke, some don’t.I t would appear that you see smokers as special group (like gays, effniks, muslims, etc).
I (a non smoker) am against the ban, but your partisan pride in seeing smokers as a breed apart does the cause of us all being mere human beings no favours at all.
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7
May 22, 2010 at 13:39 -
We’re all the same: It used to be exactly as you describe, and if only it could be again. However, the reason there are now perceived to be two distinct groups, smokers and non-smokers, is precisely because of this ban and the Labour’s policy of ‘denormalising’ smokers (this is how CMO Liam Donaldson described it).
Under such an asault, it’s only human nature that one group feel victimised and see themselves as a separate group from society.
This is why an amendment (no chance of a repeal, more’s the pity) would send a good message to the anti-smoking bullies that government considers the concerns of all people, not just those with ‘approved’ lifestyles.
It’s nice to hear that you don’t favour the ban as it stands. Thank you.
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8
May 22, 2010 at 10:38 -
Thanks for the plug, Anna.
Members of the group will be messaged with full details of how to engage in the Great Repeal Bill process once it is announced how to do so.
Previously, government has tended to squirrel these things away on an obscure page of a government website, where most people will never find them. Apart from paid single interest pressure groups, such as ASH, of course. I’m hoping this group will give a chance for everyone to have their say on this particular issue, not just professional lobby groups.
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9
May 22, 2010 at 10:53 -
I wonder if the people who lost their jobs due the smoking ban could sue the Labour party (yes I know that they should technically sue the government but it woz the Labour that done it) the same way the HIPS surveyors are clamouring for compensation for losing the jobs.
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10
May 22, 2010 at 13:25 -
I helped Dick with the information for the Facebook page and believe you me the 100,000 unemployed is an “at least figure.” When 2,200 pubs closed the number of unemployed was 78,000.
Also within 4 weeks I hope to have published my paper on second hand smoke (SHS). It is alleged SHS can cause lung cancer and heart attacks. and is the reason for world wide bans. I now have incontrovertable scientific proof that SHS has and never will cause lung cancer.
Some major organisations apart from ASH have lied through their teeth on SHS. I have used their own data and they by inference say it in plain English.
Never has hoist by your own petard been more appropriate.
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11
May 22, 2010 at 21:35 -
Thank you, Dick Puddlecote. No need for me to reply. You said it for me.
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12
May 22, 2010 at 22:38 -
I’m teetotal, too old and slow to be a menace to the ladies but I ENJOY my smoking. Surely one ‘vice’ isn’t too bad? Oh, by the way – it was the government that started me (and many others) smoking in the first place. Servicemen abroad were given cigarettes that had been seized by the Customs on a regular basis.
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May 23, 2010 at 01:02 -
I’m teetotal, too old and slow to be a menace to the ladies but I ENJOY my smoking. Surely one ‘vice’ isn’t too bad? Oh, by the way – it was the government that started me (and many others) smoking in the first place. Servicemen abroad were given cigarettes that had been seized by the Customs on a regular basis.
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May 24, 2010 at 15:12 -
“An amendment to the unnecessarily spiteful nature of the smoking ban has been provisionally tabled as part of this bill.”
That is good news. Who tabled it?
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