Labour MSP Confirms It Wasn't About Bar Staff

"So politicians lie, sue me"

You may not have heard of Ken Macintosh - not surprising because even Ed Miliband struggles to remember him - but he made quite a revelation in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

I cannot speak for other members, but my main motivation in voting for and supporting the ban on smoking in public places in Scotland was that it would help us to denormalise smoking, so that we would no longer see people smoking in our pubs or cafes or in most other workaday or social situations, and so that we and our children would no longer see smoking as a normal activity. I believe that the ban has been successful in doing exactly that ...

Now, we jewel robbers have always known that the smoking ban was installed on the back of lies and deceit, but it's nice to see it officially recorded.

Of course, it won't come as any consolation to the thousands of pub owners whose businesses were deliberately sabotaged - and in many cases shut down - due to a mendacious political trick. As the tobacco control industry has known since the 1970s, the only way that idiot politicians could be persuaded en masse to trample on property rights and financially cripple our world-renowned hospitality trade was via the justification that it would end the carnage of bar worker bodies piling up in the street of a weekend.

So why has Ken chosen now to come out with with this admission? Well, simply because by changing the terms of debate he can call for yet another ban, this time for e-cigs.

... I worry that we are about to undo some of that good work. 

The Advertising Standards Authority has just finished its consultation on advertising of e-cigarettes, and I hope that it will treat them as it would any other cigarette [...] the Welsh Government has said that it will restrict their use in enclosed public spaces. Here in Scotland, the minister is undoubtedly making the right noises, and seems to be indicating her intention to follow suit, but announcements have so far been limited to saying that the Government is considering the next steps.

There was no dissent from other contributors over another loss of liberty for their citizens - this is Scotland, after all, where they get very excited about banning stuff - but plenty of support. Fellow Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale declared how Macintosh's tosh had "educated" her about vaping, and Scottish Nationalist Michael Russell suggested that Macintosh may very well get his wish.

It was also right for Mr Macintosh to discuss vaping. I am quite sure that the health ministers will bring forward their plans and will have noted his contribution.

So a ban on e-cigs in Scottish public places it is, then. Hmm, it's not about health, is it?

It does appear, though, that these particular idiot politicians have very little clue what they are talking about. If you're in Scotland, you might want to be pro-active and start sending them some educational letters before they get carried away with their own ignorant self-importance.

UPDATE:

Scotland must be proud to have an expert like Macintosh educating parliament about e-cigs.

Vaping is the new term for use of e-cigarettes, which give off a cloud of vapour rather than tarry smoke. It is a term that has been coined by advertisers that are promoting a new and, they hope, attractive product.

Err, actually, it's an old term coined by a doctor in the 1970s.

Apart from that, he's spot on.

Document H/T CS via Twitter