Thursday
Dec112008
Smoking: the next logical step
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Neil Rafferty is not only a spokesman for Forest. He's also one half of The Daily Mash, the UK's No 1 satirical website which he created with fellow journalist Paul Stokes. I sense Neil's hand in THIS article, entitled 'Smokers banned from looking at cigarettes while smoking'. "Smokers will have to hold a large piece of card over their face so they cannot look at the cigarette they are smoking, ministers said last night."
in Humour
Reader Comments (4)
A friend of mine has just called to say that she attended a school's prize-giving service and the main speaker was Conservative MP Douglas Hogg QC.
Hogg said how he admired the school's independant spirit and then went on to talk about tolerance. He cited three examples of how Britain has become more intolerant - one of them being the example of the smoking ban of which he talked about at length.
This eminent policitican said his own view was that smoking was an odious habit, but the essence of the ban was that it relied on demonising a minority group and that it impinged upon human rights.
He went to say that the tobacco controls in place are over the top and the issue would never be resolved by demonising people in the community.
The whole essence of his speech, apparently, was that Govt and policitians should not enforce their own views, based on their own personal likes and dislikes, on the population.
I know Hogg voted against the ban and if I could vote for him in the next election I would. Unfortunately, my boundary will change and so I have a choice between an anti-smoking Lab policitian that I don't agree with, or a Conservative policitian who I don't know or what he or she stands for.
I just hope that Cameron listens to this very experienced and tolerant man before ploughing on with any more tobacco controls if the Cons do become the next Govt.
With a bit of luck, the next logical step will be to stop persecuting decent, honest, and law-abiding people who happen to like smoking and just want to be left alone.
Pat. For a top QC to say 'that it impinged upon human rights' then surely it must do.
That's what I thought. I wish I'd heard the speech first hand but I don't doubt what I was told.
In my seventies I have taken to a pipe after 11 years of non-smoking. I think tobacco can be a blessing, as can all good things. It depends how you use them.