The Great Repeal Bill: a plan for action
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 The state opening of Parliament will take place on May 25 when the Queen's Speech is expected to include a "Freedom" or "Great Repeal" Bill "to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour Government".
Confusion surrounds the exact nature of the Bill, what will be in it, and which minister will take responsibility for the Bill’s drafting and progress, but hopes are high that it will take into account an experiment launched last year by Conservative MP Douglas Carswell.
Co-author of The Plan, which became a surprise bestseller when it was published two years ago, Carswell posted his idea for a Great Repeal Bill online and invited people to debate why certain laws should be included or excluded from the bill.
Now, let's be honest. An amendment to the smoking ban is not going to feature in the Queen's Speech. Likewise, it is going to take one hell of a campaign to persuade the new Government to include such a clause in the proposed Bill. Nevertheless a very small window has opened up and there is a tiny chink of light in the distance ...
Let's hope it's not an onrushing train ...
For further information click HERE.
See also: MP calls on voters to draft new law online.
Update: Forest will be lobbying MPs on this subject very shortly. Register your support HERE and we will send you further information.
Reader Comments (7)
Err, 4% more licenced premises? How many are church halls and cafes? It's the biggest red herring out there.
Dick, you beat me to it.
I was also going to say about the number of new supermarkets springing up everywhere. All have licences to sell alcohol.
Apologies. I posted this item in a bit of a rush and missed out a substantial section so it probably didn't make sense. I have now added the section I originally intended to publish. It would be useful, of course, to add further comments to the Wiki page to counteract comments like those above. Goodness knows how to do it, though. If anyone can work it out, please post the information here.
"This is the legislation that prevents you smoking in an enclosed public space or in the workplace, such as a restaurant or a company car. It is often claimed that the ban has had a huge negative impact on many pubs across the country, particularly since the recession began. It is however worth noting that the number of licensed premises in England and Wales has actually increased (by about 4%) since the introduction of the ban, while in Scotland (where a ban was introduced in 2005) the number of pubs itself has increased."
This comment is to be found in WikiUniversity and the fact that Carswell cites it as a reference is hardly encouraging. See:
http://www.talkcarswell.com/
and
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Great_Repeal_Bill
Wikipedia is a very biased antismoker rag and its comments were in turn taken from:
Herald Scotland (a very pro-establishment rag)
http://www.heraldscotland.com/number-of-scottish-pubs-rises-since-smoking-ban-1.887290
and
DCMS - a government production, see:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.culture.gov.uk/images/research/Licensing_Statistical_Bulletin_2009.pdf
On the 11th June 2009 I was at a meeting at the The Royal Oak Inn in Clacton where Douglas Carswell was meeting the local publicans in his constituency. They numbered about 12 and everyone mentioned that the smoking ban had heavily hit their trade.
The Nielsen evidence was put on by me, and have more to add tomorrow.
Thought it was a bit odd, Simon. I'll hold my hand up too as I didn't finish with the reason WHY the new licences are now needed.
It's because where in the past a church hall, for example, would hold a wine & cheese evening without a problem, under Labour's watch they now have to apply for a licence.
To use a manufactured increase such as that to justify the smoking ban is entirely unrelated and positively fraudulent.
It also points to another candidate for the Great Repeal Bill itself.
The Scottish ban was 6am 26th March 2006. not 2005.
I know because I was in my local on the 25th enjoying my last one before we were criminalised.
http://www.clearingtheairscotland.com/
Amazed the above webpage is still up!
Chin chin!