Thursday 18 June 2015

If You're Welsh, I Have A Job For You

Further to my recent articles about the retarded proposal to ban e-cigs in public places in Wales (see here and here), the Ashtray Blog has produced a very handy guide to the voting intentions of Welsh politicians and what you can do to help get the stupidity thrown out.
[W]hen the Welsh government held a consultation on whether to copy the Spanish ban, 79% of those who replied were against a ban, even after hundreds of responses had been stripped out. 
Those against a ban include The Royal College of Physicians, Action on Smoking and Health, Cancer Research, Cardiff University, The British Heart Foundation, Tenovus and the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies. 
Despite all this, the Welsh government is pushing ahead with plans to ban e-cigs in public places in Wales.
Because the Welsh assembly was designed to bring democracy closer to the people, apparently. Good grief.
Some AMs who I’ve contacted in the past have refused to confirm their position on the basis that I was not resident in their area (the fact my company employs people in their area didn’t seem to count). Others just never replied. I’m going to be contacting AMs who have not confirmed their position, but if you can help out with the ‘unknowns’ let me know in the comments. I’d also love to hear what AMs have said to you.
James, the blog author, then lists all the information he currently knows of voting intentions of Welsh AMs. Where you can help out - especially if you are in their constituency so they are obliged to reply -  is by contacting the AMs who are in favour of the ban, are undecided, or who have not expressed their stance, and pointing out precisely why it's such a batshit crazy idea.

Do go read James's article, which not only lists the AMs in question along with their Twitter and other contact details, but also includes a couple of sample letters/emails you could send.

And in case you think it may be tilting at windmills to engage with these politicians, I also urge you to read Simon Thurlow's account of how Wales has got to this position, and how everyone from ASH Wales to the Assembly Petitions Committee has attempted to exclude the public all the way down the line. Unsuccessfully, so far, as the vote could teeter on a knife edge with only a small number of AMs required to switch sides for the proposal to be rejected (yes, it should be rejected almost unanimously, but we're talking about dunderheaded politicos here). Or, as Simon says ...
It is obvious from this state of affairs is that we have Mark Drakeford rattled and worried. We know he has not (and cannot) find credible evidence to back his ideological stance on eCigarettes. I believe he is also now aware that we are garnering support from the opposition parties against his puritanical plans. He also knows that we only need to persuade a small number of Labour AM’s to rebel against him and his plans will be in complete disarray. 
So where does this leave our campaign? 
Quite simply, I believe we are winning the battle. We are winning the hearts and minds of AM’s as we meet them. We have countered every single argument Drakeford has presented with sound scientific EVIDENCE. Finally, I believe that Mark Drakeford is finally coming to realise that we are a force to be reckoned with. We are not some ‘oiks’ from the Valleys with a grievance. We are, in fact, a learned body of people who know what we are talking about and can back up everything we say with solid scientific evidence.
The upshot is that there is a very real chance of this pathetic policy being voted down, despite the Welsh state, its NGOs and fake charities doing their best to marginalise the public they are supposed to be serving. So please take a few minutes of your time to get stuck in and let odious people like Drakeford and his fellow arseclowns know their proposed law is fatally flawed, and has no place in a free democracy. But more politely than that, obviously.


9 comments:

Sam Duncan said...

“Because the Welsh assembly was designed to bring democracy closer to the people, apparently.”



That was the big flaw in the devolution argument, of course. The idea that bringing “democracy” physically closer to people actually gives them any more meaningful say in running their own lives is a load of bunk. Instead of being one voice in 66,000,000, you become one in 3,000,000. Whoopee. Hear me... er, squeak slightly more loudly.


Moreover, the politically-minded get the impression that they are “closer to the people” and are emboldened to follow every madcap fad that comes along the pike, because they are “us”, not “them”. (Yeah, right.)


During the Scottish referendum, those of us who opposed separation were often accused of believing Scotland to be “too wee” to go it alone. On the contrary: my principal beef is that it's still too big.

Simon Thurlow said...

Well, they failed to discuss PH Bill this week, and have a blackout when they do discuss it at HSCC next week http://www.senedd.assembly.wales/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=3024&EVT=101&DT=A

So much for transparent government eh ?

Dragonmum said...

The only things he and the "First Minister" ever cite - BMA & WHO - plus of course Spain where 600,000 have gone back to smoking which, according to their stats means 300,000 premature deaths, and countries who have a tobacco industry which a ban protects. If the Senedd swallow this one they will not only wreck the pub and tourist trades but will have blood on their hands. We need to normalise vaping and it can't be done behind closed doors. Kids in Wales are as addicted to fags today as they ever were - a walk through our city centre is all you need to show this.

Curmudgeon said...

By the way, Twitter has stopped me linking to this post in a tweet because it says it's "suspicious" :-(

Are you still on some kind of blacklist?

TomO said...

C'mon The Welsh Assembly is full of jumped up local councillors .... and conniving party hacks.

They absolutely do not want any external input to their provincial gravy train - look what the council and Dai The Plod got up to a while back in Camarthen...

Amazing that Kinnock family firm isn't rearing it's head... too busy spending it?

"They" know that apathy, exclusion and furtiveness has worked well for them in the past so they'll sail on .... aided and abetted by senior managers and "the executive" who have no intention of getting their noses out of the trough - wasn't it a Welsh council boss who gave himself a Porsche from the grateful taxpayers eh?.....

timbone said...

I was not aware that there is a ban on e cigs in Spain. Can someone enlighten me please. Thanks

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Apparently so. Only for the .co.uk suffix, replace with .com and it works fine. Many have tried to tell Twitter that it's not spam at this link.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Good point, but I don't know the answer. I know that appalling (and wrong) allegations of health risks by an eminent doctor caused sales to dry up and 80% (IIRC) of shops to close.

Mike Loftus said...

Sorry, DP, but I really couldn't give a FF for what happens to the Walians. They, more than any other 'nation' on the surface of this sorry globe (with the single possible exception of that benighted sh*thole, Orstrylia), deserve whatever cubic light-years of ordure come hurtling, vertically-down, upon their indescribably dense heads.