In the media spotlight
Monday, February 1, 2010 Well, you're probably all now aware of the government's latest tobacco control strategy paper which includes a raft of proposals including plain packaging, plans to extend the smoking ban to doorways etc etc etc.
The only "good" thing to emerge from the announcement is Health Secretary Andy Burnham's preference for smokefree homes and cars without regulation. The problem is, who can believe that a Labour government would stick to this voluntary code? After all, the party promised it would only introduce a partial ban on smoking in enclosed public places. There was no mention, in its 2005 election manifesto, of the comprehensive ban we are now subjected to.
I've been pretty busy today responding to the government's announcement. Last night's GMTV interview popped up (as a soundbite) on the GMTV news bulletins this morning. This morning I did back-to-back interviews on the Today programme (with John Humphreys) and Five Live Breakfast (with Nicky Campbell).
Between eight and nine I was also interviewed by BBC Radio Leeds, Three Counties Radio and Radio Wales.
I later gave interviews to Sky News Radio, SunTalk Radio and ITV Lunchtime News and in a few minutes I am being interviewed by Al Jazeera. NBC want to speak to me too.
This afternoon, from 4.00-6.00pm, I will be holed up in a small BBC studio in London conducting a series of live and recorded interviews for various local radio stations. Full list:
1600 Coventry and Warwick
1608 Humberside
1615 Tees
1622 Northampton
1630 Stoke
1638 Newcastle
1645 Oxford
1652 Three Counties Luton
1708 Lancashire
1715 Cambridge
1722 Sussex
1730 Devon
1738 Surrey
1745 Essex
1752 Shropshire
1810 London
Forest has also been widely quoted in today's media. Here are some examples:
Government targets cigarette packaging (Independent/Press Association)
Smoking ban could be extended to cover office doorways (Daily Telegraph)
Ministers aim to halve number of people smoking by 2020 (BBC News)
No smokebling in house or car (The Sun)
Update: the Al Jazeera interview will be broadcast at 3.00pm if you're interested!
Reader Comments (57)
Fortunately Margot, the British public are not quite as dumb as you seem to think.
Margot and other UKIPers
I do understand your feelings and frustrations - I'm ex UKIP myself.
And if people were to convert en masse to UKIP so that we could change the present system I could understand why you advocate what you do.
BUT IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!
30% of the elctorate are apparently still going to vote for the Labour party - the most evil and economically moronic government in living memory.
So by voting UKIP you're really just increasing the chance of a hung parliament and UKIP ending up with maybe one seat.
Peter Thurgood
Re your wife's pension:
The rules changed in 2006 so that you can take 25% tax free cash from any pension now.
Check if there are any guaranteed annuity rates - very valuable these days. If not try the open market option to secure the best deal from any provider. If she smokes some providers offer better rates on annuities for smokers.
Simon they are still fighting the bans in SF USA I like the 4th comment, drug companies again Dave, same crap differant place.
http://sfappeal.com/news/2010/02/are-you-pro-freedom----or.php
4th comment down
generalsn said:
Here;s the source of the bans, Johnson and Johnson, makers of Chantix, Nicoderm, and other quit smoking drugs:
http://www.rwjf.org/publichealth/product.jsp?id=14912
And where the money is going: Note on page seven, the "inside out" provision promising to return later for the patios AFTER business owners spend thousands to build them for their many smoking customers, clearly showing that they have absolutly no concern about local businesses
http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/CIA_Fundamentals.pdf
A week is a long time in politics. Who, at this moment,can possibly predict what the mood of voters will be when election time comes? And how often do pollsters get it right? Certainly not last June.
If only the electorate got wise to the ways of our present day charlatans who govern us and played them at their own game by stealth.
If all the true blue Tory and Lib Dem voters kept up the appearance of promoting their constituents by leaflet dropping and posters etc. as per expected.
But when it comes to the day of the elections cunningly put their X in the UKIP ballot box.
What an almighty shock they would get and what a resounding sense of liberation and achievement would ring out all over the country from the prolatiariat who would finally get their comeuppance to see the term 'lessons will be learned' shoved down the throats of the very people who coined the phrase.
sick. we shouldn't be even made to go outdoors in the first place. to push us further and further grom premises would only push us towards the next builing, with whichever door/window it might have. treating us like lepers and pushing us further outdoors is only contributing to more health problems, with more illnesses caused by the fleeting temperatures, pollen, and traffic fumes! not to mention that pushing us into more isolated spots makes people more vulnerable to assaults(e.g. that nurse who got stabbed as she moved away from the hospital she was working in. or for disablet people, it can only be dangerous for them not to be in an isolated setting,, where it's more difficult for them to ask for help, should they need it.
I go to Al Jazeera for all my world news now...it's a much more impartial than the BBC now they are slowly being taken over by Americorp.