Sunday 1 August 2010

Staggering Incompetence

When communicating with any politician on smoking issues, the reply is 100% certain to include this statement.

"Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK."
The key to this sentence is the use of the word 'preventable', of course. Yet what has our terminally-retarded government got in the pipeline? Well, as Leg Iron concisely observes on hearing the news that e-cigs are to be banned:

The one thing with the real potential to eventually replace tobacco consumption altogether? The one thing that lets smokers smoke without any risk at all, real or imagined, to themselves or others?

No. We can't have that.
Yep. An innovation which had every chance of helping to deliver their fabled 'smokefree society', and the self-appointed guardians of our public health have farcically moved to kill it off. It's what tobacco harm reduction professionals describe as the best way to maximise cigarette sales.

They seriously have no fucking idea what they are doing in SW1, do they?

ADDENDUM: It seems I was correct about this back in December.

Are UK politicians as quite stunningly dense as those in New Jersey? We shall see, but secretly you know that I'm going to be back here very soon pointing out that they are, don't you?



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The control freaks dont want E-Fags
becoming too popular ,that could
mean people socialising in pubs and clubs again ,that is certainly
not on their agenda.
Not heard much on this issue from the Fanny and Nanny brigade yet.
You all know who, CAMRA,ASH,PUBCOS
and not forgetting the whimpering
Trade Mags

As most of us with an IQ of 67+
know, the smoking ban in pubs was absolutely nothing whatsoever to
do with "protecting others".
The only ones believing that are
tho ones well paid for saying so.

The truth will prevail,but when?

Mark Wadsworth said...

Good stuff. It's simultaneously gratifying and depressing when your worst fears turn out to be true.

I still prefer proper fags though.

Leg-iron said...

One of the pubcos has a blanket ban on Electrofag in all its cloned pubs already. Not for health reasons - there aren't any - but because it looks like smoking. On that basis, they might well eject any customer chewing a pen.

Those damn customers think they are there to enjoy themselves, you know!

Anonymous said...

Dead right Leg Iron
"A multi pub owning brewery (Sam Smiths) has banned e-cigs from all their premises as ‘they look too much like the real thing’.


I hope every blogger who raves
about freedom gives this nannyfanny pub outfit a nice big
mention or two.

PS
Would'nt be surprised if the
silly pub group was'nt a froth
sniffing coven for the CAMRA
itch'n'scratch mutations.



Doc Martin

Anonymous said...

If you think banning e-cigs in pubs is bad, what about Easy Jet selling cigarette substitutes (cigarette-like tubes with filters impregnated with nicotine and flavourings) on their flights and the flight attendants then advising you not to use them in flight because other passengers might think that you are smoking!!

PJH said...

"Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK."

I thought the NHS was the largest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK.

MRSA, C. Diff

Foreign locums who can't speak English

Premature diagnosis of impending death

Endemic malnutrition on wards.

etc, etc.

Dick Puddlecote said...

Well, exactly, PJH. Perhaps that's the reason for including the word 'single'. The medical profession's fuck ups are multiple. ;)

Junican said...

Erm....hang on a mo....I thought that the places owned by this pub owner John Smiths were PUBLIC places? How come they have any right to ban things in these places? They are PUBLIC places, are they not?

Maybe we ought not to worry unduly about these things. Let them push it further and further until, one day, the shit hits the fan.


You see, I do not see the coalition changing the ban in the near future. The Health Dept is so powerful (and I mean the civil servants and the medics) that the politicians are powerless to override the Health Dept. But, possibly, if the people keep on complaining and pubs keep on closing, a change might occur closer to the next election - which, bear in mind could possibly be in the near future. It need only be that Cameron (being prime minister) says, "I think I will call a general election" - (assuming Labour and Liberals are in the doldrums).

But there is hope. I saw somewhere (only once!) an idea of the coalition to change the Dept of Health into The Department of PUBLIC Health. I have seen these apparently simple little changes before and seen that, in fact, just the inclusion of a little word like 'public' can, if fact, produce major changes. One can only read into this idea the intention of removing the day to day administration of hospitals from the Health Dept. Do we see the importance of this idea?

Strange though it may seem, the administration of hospitals and doctors may well be a correct purpose for a quango - just administer it for God's sake! Thus there would be a rump of a Health Dept consisting of Chief Medical Officers and such. Also, the likes of NICE would come under this new dept and be accountable for their histrionics.

I feel a letter to the Secretary of State for Health coming on....

PJH said...

They are PUBLIC places, are they not?

No. They are private premises where the public are admitted at the whim of the owner/proprietor.

Proprietors are able to dictate (within the bounds set out by the government) what may happen there.