Staines Passive

It's not my usual style, but I simply have to do a bit of a Julia because, as bizarre consequences of the smoking ban go, this is a doozy.

A woman has claimed she was not allowed on a bus in Staines after witnessing and challenging a driver who was smoking in his vehicle.

Lesley Dove, 45, was with her husband Paul, and children Jonathan, 16, Aurora, 14, and Lucy, eight, on Sunday (28) at around 5.30pm when she tried to board the 290 bus at Staines bus station to get back to her Hampton home after visiting the town.

She claims as the bus was parked, she saw the driver inside the vehicle finishing off his cigarette, while a passenger was sitting inside.

She said: "Without being aggressive I told him he wasn't supposed to be smoking on the bus, as it was against the law of the smoking ban."

I know you may be thinking that she is just an interfering busybody, but you'd be entirely wrong. There was a bona fide reason for her intervention.

Mrs Dove said she is anti-smoking because her mother smoked around her when she was young.

She claims she gets coughing fits, and sometimes chest infections when around smokers, and feels that not enough people uphold, or are educated about the smoking ban.

Fair enough.

If it affects her that badly, best she get the next bus then.

"When we went to get on the bus, he said we were not allowed on, so we had to wait for half an hour in the cold for another."

Err, why would you want to get on a bus when you're going to suffer so badly? Surely a little bit of cold is preferable to the torture of being on a bus, where someone has smoked, if it could lead to a load of hacking and potential chest infections?

Come on, woman, show some consistency. How did you get by in life before Westminster fools passed a charter for your ilk to lecture and pontificate to others? Must have been hell.

Lastly, why were you complaining about one guy smoking a cigarette on a bus, ventilated generously every time the large doors regularly open and close, when you were standing in a fucking bus station surrounded by gallons of carcinogenic engine emissions.

"People starting butting in and having a go at me, and I started to get quite frightened, and my youngest daughter started to cry. It was very upsetting, because all I did was try and make sure he upheld the law."

Eh? The ban is universally popular. Why on Earth would they be getting irate at you? That is so damn unlucky. You've met the only people in the country who think differently ... acording to the government.

Or could there be something more to this story?

A spokesman for bus company Transdev said: "We are aware of an alleged incident concerning a driver smoking on a route 290 bus at Staines Bus Station, on 28 March 2010. Smoking on any London United vehicle is strictly prohibited. The matter will be investigated fully."

Of course, prior to July 1st 2007, the situation wouldn't have occurred in the first place. Lesley would have boarded without turning a hair, no-one would have died, no-one would have cried, no-one would have been stressed or scared, no-one would be under investigation, no-one would have waited in the cold, no-one would have been arguing at the bus stop amongst themselves. Just like thousands of other bus journeys Lesley has taken in her 45 years on the planet.

Another example, as I've alluded to before, of the emnity, division and spite, sometimes resulting in violence, which has been created out of thin air by this government, purely for ideological reasons.

I think I shall repeat Labour's mantra again, inspired by Francis of Assisi.

Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair.

UPDATE: It looks like Lesley Dove is a bit of a committed righteous health nut.

Lesley Dove
Member of The London Vegan Meetup Group

Vegan from Hampton, wants to meet veggies and vegans, especially locally, and other veggie and vegan families too.

She hates Jamie Oliver - nothing wrong with that, but - for believing that animals are food!

Umm, actually no, if Jamie Oliver supported animal rights, he would not be encouraging people to eat animals whether they were British or foreign, kind of obvious isn't it? True supporters of animal rights believe that animals are not food.

And she was active in the campaign against MMR on natural remedies grounds, even pitching up on the BBC web-site 9 years ago. Yep, it's definitely her.

If she wasn't hectoring, she wouldn't feel alive. No wonder the locals are probably sick of her.

Just a mischievous thought, but if she ate proper food, perhaps she'd be a bit more resilient to a few wisps of smoke, no?

UPDATE 2: Thanks to an anon in the comments. Lesley is a raving anti-smoking nutjob with a tendency to involve the press.

I am getting in the local press about it this week or next week though! They took my photo with my kids outside the centre on Tuesday for the paper, and I am fighting this because it should be my right as a local resident for my local community centre to be accessible to me.

Go read the lot, you'll be amazed. Even her vegan friends think she is loopy.