After Nick Clegg's horrendously misguided first declaration of intent; ie, smoking ban not to be revisited it would have seemed to many that this coalition mishmash we have for a government were to be just as frightened of the health lobby as the previous set of numpties! But no.
It appears that the impending ban on vending machines may be scrapped by this coalition of ours and further to this mini bombshell "The Department of Health has indicated the possibility of repealing the Tobacco Act over fears it may have a detrimental effect on businesses and prove costly to enforce."
Wowee!
Has the Dept of Health taken leave of its senses I ask? "....may have a detrimental effect on businesses..". Of course it will have a detrimental effect on businesses - it will cause closures! many small shops rely heavily upon tobacco sales for their end of week profit, and why shouldn't they as tobacco is a perfectly legal matter to purchase - just like bread & butter, also sold in corner shops.
Is this the first sign that a government has finally taken onboard the horrendous cost to businesses of the smokeban? Is this then first sign that a government has considered a persons business rights? After all, any vendor has the right to openly display that which he is trying to sell.
Paul Rubig (Austria, EPP). said last July (and I commend him for it), that if any product is legal, then the maker should be free to advertise it. Three cheers for Paul Rubig. Free Speech good; censorship bad. (Thanks to Roger Helmer)
Advertising one's wares is a freedom of speech and it also a means by which a business can flourish. Perhaps, after realising what a dismal failure, in business terms, the smokeban has been (ie, government now having to pay £'x' millions out in extra benefits every week) they have realised that 5,000 corner shop/small business owners closing would wreake more havoc on the benefits system. If they have, then hoorah for common sense for it's about time a large dose of that prevailed in this country!
Needless to say the anti tobacco mob are up in arms over this possibility as Jean King, director of tobacco control at Cancer Research UK, said: "Removing tobacco from point of sale is important if we are to protect children from tobacco.".
Can you tell me, what 12-15 yr old is coing to rush to a fag machine, dispense approximately £7.20 to receive 15/16 cigarettes? In this day and age with the juvenile ranks 'evertings gotta be value innit?' No value in vending machines then!
Corner shops and small retailers are under constant scrutiny from entrapment officers (sorry, Police officers) sending in under aged kids to buy cigarettes so that they can fine the owner outlandish amounts of money. 99.9% of small shop owners want kids to have their birth certificates nailed to their foreheads before they will serve them these days so Jean King's words are just another pathetic bleat from the anti tobacco mob. And,if Cancer Research UK spent half as much on finding a cure for cancer as they do on trying to rid the country of a legal substance then surely they would have found a cure by now! They are the same as ASH: sitting on fat-cat wage packets and simply trying maintain such. All they want is the money to keep rolling in to keep the top dogs in the manner to which they have become accustomed!
My mother-in-law passed away 2 years ago this October yet last Christmas 'she' got a begging letter from the above organisation asking her to double her monthly donation from her pension - yet they, and many others were advised of her demise within a week of the event purely to save later grief!
Think about it. Equal rights for smokers in pubs & clubs and ASH, Cancer Research UK et al can pack up and go home - they will be past their sell by dates. The latter can then concentrate ALL their funding on RESEARCH and not plague-ing smokers to death.
So, with the possibility of the display ban being KO'd I see the wheel maybe turning ever so slightly back in favour of the smokers. After all, we do give the government of the day a nice £10bn present every year!
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