Farmer faces fine for smoking break in tractor per BBC News

This BBC news report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-33607067 is quite ridiculous but one thing that struck me is that the farmer was caught by a 'tobacco control officer'. How many of these tobacco control officers are there? How much does each get paid? What is the management structure that runs them? 

I hate smoking but the criminalisation of smokers is just another example of raising money via transgression taxes. Smokers and motorists are cash cows for government, whether national or local.

What are they trying to say in this NHS anti-smoking advertisement?

Possibly the weirdest advert I have seen for a while and of course paid for out of our taxes.

Do as we say not as we do (part xxx)

The Sun's Whip reports that:

"THE WHIP is contacted by a source who works for the company involved in the G20 Summit being held at Excel in London’s Canning Town next month.

“Although smoking is banned within work places in the UK and has been a vigorously enforced Labour policy, it is being allowed at the G20 summit – indeed, there is a smoking lounge,” he reports."

Why am I not surprised at this Labour government being somewhat hypocritical?

Anti-smoking legislation

The Daily Mash has the details of the next piece of Labour government legislation:

"SMOKERS BANNED FROM LOOKING AT CIGARETTES WHILE SMOKING - SMOKERS will have to hold a large piece of card over their face so they cannot look at the cigarette they are smoking, ministers said last night.

The 'smoking mask' will include a small mouth hole and a handle, though later models may be fitted with elasticated straps.

From next April, if smokers want to buy cigarettes they will have to uncover them during a day-long treasure hunt using a series of very difficult clues.

Under the new regulations the smokers will then have to store their cigarettes inside a large cereal box, which may or may not contain a cobra.

When they want to smoke they must position the cereal box on a table, strap on their smoking mask and then fumble around inside the box in the hope of finding a cigarette and not a large, venomous snake.

The mask will also carry a warning which reads: "Lighting a Cigarette While Wearing This Mask May Cause You to Set Fire to the Mask Instead of the Cigarette and Burn Your Face Off."

Health secretary, Alan Johnson, said: "If you can't see nicotine, it can't see you. And, as any scientist will tell you, if something can't see you, it has no way of knowing you exist.""

Are you 100% certain that this is satire?

Fake charities

Devils Kitchen has written a great expose of the charity industry and how government funding assures the charities support for government initiatives. It really is an incestuous relationship, here's an example:

"SmokeFree Action is headed up by the biggest fake charity of all: Action of Smoking and Health (ASH). ASH, like all the rest of the "stakeholders", were created by the government but try their best to pretend to be a grass-roots organisation. Since they are registered with the charities commission it makes it that bit easier to inspect their accounts:

Year ended 31st March 2007

Department of Health: £210,400

Wales Assembly Government: £110,000

Supporting charities: £185,228

Donations & legacies received: £11,143


Incidentally, take another look at that last figure. That is the full amount that was voluntarily given to this 'charity' in a whole year. To give you a frame of reference, the Cat's Protection League received over £30 million in private donations in the same year. The fucking Donkey Sanctuary was given over £20 million.

ASH - one of the most powerful chairites in the UK - made eleven grand. If they were left to fend for themselves they wouldn't have the money to rent an office. They would be hard pushed to send out a solitary press release, let alone change the law of the fucking land every five minutes."

"smoking is bad"

Apparently, displaying cigarettes in shops could be banned and tougher controls on vending machines in pubs and restaurants could be introduced in England under government plans being considered to cut adult smoking and to discourage children from starting.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said it was "vital" to teach children that "smoking is bad". "If that means stripping out vending machines or removing cigarettes from behind the counter, I'm willing to do that".


If this Labour government believes that it is "vital" to teach children that "smoking is bad" then why not ban smoking altogether? Surely this Labour Government's need for the tax revenue raised from taxing tobacco couldn't be the reason. I do like Ms Primarolo's use of the "will nobody think of the children" argument, that so many think negates all opposition, I do of course use like in completely its wrong sense.


For the record, and as I have said before, I do not smoke, I have never smoked, I hate the smell of cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke and hate even more the smell of stale smoke on my clothes and skin the day after an evening out in a bar or club. I avoid smoky restaurants and bars and have changed tables to avoid people smoking next to me. So I obviously supported the ban on smoking in all public places that came into force in England on 1 July 2007; actually no I didn't. This was just another way of the state controlling the public.

Health fascism

I found this article on the web and wonder if these anti-smoking campaigners have nothing better to do with their lives. I hate cigarette smoke, I detest people smoking near me, I have complained in restaurants and pubs before the smoking ban BUT nobody in the studio complained, so stop the fascism.

"The BBC reports "Anti-smoking campaigners have asked the BBC to apologise after Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May lit pipes on Sunday's show.

"Smoking in a studio is illegal. We would hope programme-makers make some form of apology," said a spokeswoman for Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).

"There were no complaints from members of the audience present during the filming," she added. One audience member told the BBC News website: "No-one in the audience seemed to mind when they lit up - people laughed, although the room did get quite smoky.""

Going up in smoke

I do not smoke, I have never smoked, I hate the smell of cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke and hate even more the smell of stale smoke on my clothes and skin the day after an evening out in a bar or club. I avoid smokey restaurants and bars and have changed tables to avoid people smoking next to me. So I obviously support the ban on smoking in all public places that comes into force in England on 1 July; actually no I don't. This is just another way of the state controlling the public. Every "workplace" must display A5 sized "No smoking" signage at every entrance unless it is an entrance from another smoke free workplace in which case a no smoking symbol only needs be displayed. If a vehicle is a Company vehicle and carries more than just the driver then no smoking signs must be displayed in each "compartment" of that vehicle. So if you drive a company car and occasionally carry a passenger from your company then your car is a "workplace" and smoking in that car breaks the law.

It appears that I should have gone into business making non smoking signs as they are going to have to be displayed almost everywhere. Surely if the whole country is to be no smoking it would be cheaper to just put signs up where smoking is allowed, maybe a picture of a half smoked, fuming fag could be the sign! That would be too obvious for this government who need to nanny us as much as possible and also to raise revenue. I was not surprised to see the list of penalties for contravening this legislation. The maximum penalties are as follows:
1) 'No smoking' sign offences (summary conviction and a fine of up to £1,000 or a fixed penalty notice of £200)
2) Offence of smoking in a smoke-free place (summary conviction and a fine of up to £200 or a fixed penalty notice of £50)
3) Offence of failing to prevent smoking in a smoke-free place (summary conviction and a fine of up to £2,500)

So the heaviest fines do not fall upon people smoking where they shouldn't but on companies who fail to put signs up at every entrance or fail to prevent people from smoking on their premises. Also you will notice that we are seeing the introduction of yet another "fixed penalty notice" by this government. We are slowly being constricted by this government via "fixed penalty notices" and I will blog about this more in the future.

So this is a revenue raising exercise disguised as a policy for public health.

Meanwhile at least one company has looked to find a market in selling smoking shelters that meet the new "substantially enclosed" restrictions.

Regardless of the above why should the government dictate whether bar owners and restaurateurs allow smoking in their establishments. If the place is smoky then I (and other customers) won't go there and nobody is being forced to work there so don't tell me if it a Health and Safety at work issue.


The law of unintended consequences may also come into play with this ban, The BBC have quite a good article on this.