Dutch policy going up in smoke: Bars ignoring smoking ban, saying business being threatened
By MIKE CORDER | Associated Press Writer
8:21 AM EST, November 19, 2008
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ A growing number of Dutch bar and cafe owners are slapping ashtrays back on their tables just months after a nationwide smoking ban came into force for bars and restaurants, saying the measure is driving hundreds of small businesses toward bankruptcy.

"The minister is leaving bar owners out in the cold," said Lodewijk van der Grinten, after a meeting late Tuesday with Health Minister Ab Klink. "Some 1,500-3,000 bars could go under because of this ban."

Van der Grinten leads a nationwide umbrella group of restaurant owners lobbying the government to either enforce the ban better or scrap it altogether. He also wants the law adjusted to punish smokers instead of bar owners, and for the government to compensate small cafe owners who are hardest hit.

Owners say they are losing up to 30 percent of their turnover since the ban came into force July 1, and the government enforcement agency is handing out a growing number of fines ranging from euro300 to euro2,400($380-$3,000).

This is the first winter that bars and cafes are having to deal with the restriction in a country where temperatures can drop below freezing in winter. The ban also is being imposed at a time of a global financial crisis and grim economic news.

Amid widespread reports that small cafes are allowing smokers to light up again, Klink wrote to Parliament this week to underscore that the government takes the issue seriously.

"Let there be no misunderstanding," he wrote. "In this country, laws have to be respected and that applies to everybody."

In the first months of the ban, bars were given warnings if they allowed smokers to light up, said Astrid Bergman, a spokeswoman for the government's Food and Wares Authority, which oversees the ban.

That changed on Oct. 1, and since then the authority has fined some 500 establishments, Bergman said Wednesday. She stressed that the majority of bars and restaurants are sticking to the ban.

Others are building special sealed smoking areas or providing covered outdoor seating and heaters for smokers.

The Netherlands is one of the last European countries to impose smoking restrictions in public eateries in an effort to reduce the effects of passive smoking.

The European Commission estimates that nearly 80,000 people die each year in the 27-nation bloc from inhaling other people's tobacco.

All EU nations have rules limiting smoking in public places, but they vary from country to country. Some permit exemptions allowing smoking to continue in bars and cafes, posing health concerns for those that work there.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com

Shameless mocks smoking laws
Monday, November 17, 2008, 15:31

Shameless layabout Frank Gallagher flouts the smoking ban in the new series of the Manchester drama, which returns to our screens in January.
Series six of Shameless sees a boycott of the local boozer by the Chatsworth Estate residents because of the smoking laws.
So staff decide to let the customers smoke in the pub rather than face financial ruin.
Other controversial storylines tackled in the new series include benefit fraud, brothels, stints in jail and stings gone wrong, fake suicides, cold turkey, joyriding, lesbian romps and lingerie parties.
The show has just won Best Continuing Drama for the second year running at the RTS North West Awards and actor Sean Gilder won Best Performance in a Continuing Drama for his role of Paddy Maguire.
Producer Lawrence Till said: "I am delighted to be making television that I would want to watch. Series six is exciting, ambitious and daring - taking stories into areas we don't know and places we have never been.
"We can delight in the surprising nature of ordinary people with drama that unpeels the enormous emotional complexity of their lives".
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk



Enterprise Inns calls time on 200 pubs
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Midlands-based pub giant Enterprise Inns is selling off around 200 pubs because of falling sales due to the credit crunch and last year's smoking ban.

It made the announcement after reporting a 12.6% slump in full-year pre-tax profits. Profits stood at £263 million for the year to September 30, compared to £301 million the year before.

"A vicious economic downturn, last year's smoking ban, a hike in beer duty, poor summer weather and cheap offers in supermarkets have all combined to encourage drinkers to stay at home," said chief executive, Ted Tuppen.

The group currently owns 7,700 pubs, a portfolio which had grown from just 368 when Enterprise was founded in 1991.

http://www.talkingdrinks.com

Smokers face ban from fostering

The council said it would help existing foster carers to quit smoking
Smokers will be banned from fostering children in a London borough, if a council's plans go ahead.

Redbridge Council, in north-east London, said it wants to protect children from "the damaging effects of passive and second-hand smoke".

If the plan is approved on Tuesday, smokers will be unable to foster children from 2010 unless there are "exceptional circumstances".

Redbridge Foster Care Association welcomed the plan as "a good idea".

Under the plan, existing foster carers who smoke will be given support to help them quit.

The council claimed the policy was the result of scientific evidence which showed that "second-hand smoke is a cause of lung cancer and childhood respiratory disease".

Councillor Michael Stark said: "While the council recognises the proven skills and abilities of its carers who smoke, it is essential that the health of our looked-after children is protected.

"Unlike adults, children have little choice about whether or not to be in a smoky environment so I hope the cabinet will take the decision to limit the harmful effects this drug can have on them."

Redbridge Foster Care Association chairwoman Norma Gregory said: "Foster carers in Redbridge think this is a good idea and would support anything that safeguards children.

"However, they have been aware of the impact that passive smoking has on children's health for the past three years and most either don't smoke because they have kicked the habit or, if they do, they don't smoke in the company of children."

Last year the Fostering Network charity advised UK local authorities to ban smokers from looking after children under the age of five.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7699911.stm

Bid to ban smoking in cars

Anti-smoking lobbyists have said the Government should consider banning smoking in cars.

Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) claims the pollution caused by one cigarette in a car is as bad as a pub filled with smoke.

In its report, Beyond Smoking Kills, it states that stopping smoking in cars is "vital in cutting the exposure of children and young people to the toxins in second-hand tobacco smoke".

Ash's director Deborah Arnott said: "It's a serious health issue. Research from Canada shows if you smoke once in a car you get the same pollution as you used to get at the end of an evening in a pub.

"The level of exposure you get in an enclosed vehicle is extremely high and it's not at all good for your health."

She added that Ash was not calling for an immediate ban, but wanted an investigation into whether legislation should be introduced.

"We want a proper debate, not a knee-jerk reaction," she said.

"What we need to do is engage people as to why smoking in cars is dangerous. It's not just dangerous for children, it's dangerous for adults as well.

"We do not call for a legislative ban on smoking in cars. Give smokers access to alternatives. What we'd like to see is if smokers are in the car and desperate, they chew some gum. We need education."

The Beyond Smoking Kills report found that the annual cost to the NHS of smoking had risen from £1.7 billion in 1998 to £2.7 billion this year.

Among its recommendations are the introduction of plain packaging and a ban on shop displays of all tobacco products in a bid to encourage 4.5 million smokers to quit by 2015.

Simon Clark, director of pro-tobacco group Forest, said smokers were facing a "war" and wanted an end to Government interference.

Mr Clark said: "We're strongly against any further legislation on smoking in cars.

"We think parents should err on the side of caution when it comes to smoking around children, but to ban it would be a gross overreaction.

"There's simply no evidence that smoking in cars is a serious distraction and causes accidents. I think this is part of the war on tobacco and I think it would be difficult to enforce.

"A car is a private space and if people choose to smoke in their car, that is a matter for them."
http://www.capitalradio.co.uk

Busty Wife fucking another mans cock besides her soulmate


Candy gets very bored and lonely when her husband goes to work. She has her close friend Savannah come over to pleasure her and have fun. On this day her husband came back from work to get something only to find the both of them fucking each other with a dildo. The husband was rather surprised but wasn't mad when they asked him to join in...
real wife stories

Chorley landlord could move abroad after losing smoking ban appeal
By Andrew Greaves

A Chorley landlord is thinking of selling up and moving abroad after losing an appeal against his conviction for allowing customers of his former pub to smoke on the premises.

Nick Hogan, licensee of The Swan With Two Necks, Water Street, and, at the time, Barristers in Bolton, was found guilty of four charges of failing to prevent people from smoking in his pubs following a trial at Bolton Magistrates Court in January.

Mr Hogan, who lives in Summerseat, appealed against three counts on the grounds he had not been aware and could not have been reasonably expected to be aware that people were smoking in his pub.

Now, after losing his appeal against the conviction - and a fine of £3,000 - Mr Hogan says he is ready to take the fight to the High Court and, if necessary, the European courts.

He said: “I told the court that I was not in the pub at the time so could not possibly have seen the people smoking.

"I am now bankrupt so the Swan With Two Necks is my wife Denise's pub but I would seriously consider packing up and moving abroad because all I am asking for is fairness.

“Gordon Brown said at the Labour conference that he wanted to create a fair society but he is not doing that with the smoking band.

“They have different rules in places like Spain and they work well but in this country the Draconian measures this Government has introduced is killing the industry.

“Only the UKIP party is willing to stand up for what we believe in and I am fully supporting their political campaign.

"We are now fighting this on a political level because I cannot believe that a Labour government would do this to working class people.”

At Bolton Crown Court, Judge Angela Nield said Mr Hogan’s well-publicised opposition to the ban, would have ‘encouraged’ customers to smoke and he would have known this.

The original fine of £3,000 - £750 for each conviction - that Mr Hogan received still stands.

He was ordered to pay an additional £1,000 in costs, on top of the initial £7,121.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk


Will Young Launches A One-Man War On The Smoking Ban
Matthew Laidlow

Hey, guess what! Will Young has a new album coming out. How do we know this?

The Pop Idol winner has been thankfully away from our TVs and radio for a good healthy period of time. But now he’s back making all sorts of grand pronouncements. Bum. When popstars aren’t around to annoy us, no-one gives a toss about them. But when albums are released, quotes from press interviews are suddenly given massive importance. Erm… just like we’re doing right now. Bum.

You see, Will Young’s decided to come out (not literally - we’ve had a hunch for a while) with a random statement about one of the main loves in his life – the good old cigarette.

Will Young is one of those people whose main vice in life is to fill his mouth with the sweet taste of smoke. Mmm, if ever there was a sexy thought to cross our minds. Well, the thought of the stubbly lady from the off license is a close second. Sadly for Will and millions of other fag lovers, the government decided to go and outlaw smoking in pubs and public buildings, effectively making sure you can’t light up anywhere.

Hooray! Non-smokers won’t die of cancer from the evil gases that come from cigarettes. We can now wander the street with only the fear of being shot at or being stabbed in our minds instead. God bless Britain.

Some famous folk have decided to ignore the ban on smoking and do radical things like smoking on stage at gigs. But Will Young wouldn’t do that! Oh no. Probably because parents of the under-18 gigs he plays wouldn’t be happy. If their 12-year-old children want to smoke, it should be their choice. Being influenced by a past-it Pop Idol bloke won’t help.

Nevertheless, Will Young is pissed off with not being able to smoke anywhere. He told Now magazine that he’d reverse the smoking ban if he had the power. Something that’s as likely to happen as Jordan not having any more surgery on her tits. Will said:

“If I could pass any law I’d reverse the smoking ban. The amount of times I’m outside a building, in a public place, and someone says: “You can’t smoke here.” And I’m like: “I’m on the pavement; just you try and stop me!”

Yeah! Just try and stop him. What you gonna do? Remember he sang in a competition once and now has more power then you could ever have? Leave him alone. He’s done nothing to you. At least in his mind, he can make a difference. So just go with him before things get tasty and bits of your leg go missing.

We have an idea of how Will can get his fix of smoke for free. We are all financially fucked at the minute, remember. All you need to do is get in your car and have the engine running. The fumes it emits will entice the Pop Idol bod to come and smack his lips right round the exhaust. As he breathes it all in, the option of reversing the car over him is entirely up to you. Just remember, we didn’t plant that idea in your head. Not even if the judge asks.
http://www.hecklerspray.com/will-young-launches-a-one-man-war-on-the-smoking-ban

Bolton pub smoking ban rebel loses appeal

The former landlord of a Bolton pub has lost his appeal against a conviction for allowing customers to smoke on the premises.

Nick Hogan, who was the licensee of The Swan and Barristers in Bradshawgate, was found guilty of four charges of failing to prevent people from smoking in his pubs following a trial at Bolton Magistrates Court in January.

He appealed against three counts on the grounds he had not been aware and could not have been reasonably expected to be aware that people were smoking in his pub.

At Bolton Crown Court today, Judge Angela Nield said his well-publicised opposition to the ban, including coverage of his views in The Bolton News, a protest in the pub on July 1, the day the measure was introduced, and letters in the pub stating his opinions, would have ‘encouraged’ customers to smoke and he would have known this.

She said: “He made it clear he did not intend to take any action to stop anyone smoking.

“This would have encouraged people to smoke on his premises.

“The appeal is refused and the conviction stands, the sentence is like penalties.”

Mr Hogan became the first pub landlord in Greater Manchester to be convicted of allowing customers to defy the smoking ban.

If he had won his appeal, there could have been major legal implications.

Mr Hogan, who is now landlord of The Swan With Two Necks in Chorley, said: “ The original fine of £3,000 - £750 for each conviction - that Mr Hogan received still stands.

He was ordered to pay an additional £1,000 in costs, on top of the initial £7,121.
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk

I'm left fuming

Having been a smoker for many years before giving it up nine years ago, I was appalled to read that they want to ban people from smoking outside a pub in Coalville (Mercury, September 20).
How much longer are people's human rights going to be eroded because of so-called do-gooders. Pubs are already under pressure because people have to sit outside like second class citizens in all weathers. Why not just round all smokers up and stick them in prison and be done with it.
It's enough to make me want to start smoking again – just out of spite.
Brian Heathcote, Aylestone.
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk

MPs barred from Blackpool pubs

Nine bars in Foxhall Village have signed a declaration stating they will not allow Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden or Blackpool North and Fleetwood colleague Joan Humble inside their premises.

The document - signed by the licensees of The Happy Scots Karaoke Bar, Del Boys Sports Bar, The Boardwalk, The Princess, The Jaggy Thistle, The Bierkellar, Sportsbar, Lifeboat and Gaiety Bar - states both MPs are banned from the pubs until "they stop the destruction of the Great British pub".

Smoking-ban rebel landlord Hamish Howitt, who runs The Happy Scots and Del Boys, organised the move after getting fed up neither Mrs Humble or Mr Marsden had given him an explanation of why they voted for the ban on smoking in all public places, which came into force in July 2007.

The 56-year-old, who set up his own political party in opposition of the smoking ban called Fight Against Government Suppression (FAGS), has made numerous court appearances for allowing customers to light up in his bars.

He said: "I have 100 per cent backing of all the independent bars from Manchester Square to the town centre. Every single independent bar signed the barring notice in Foxhall Village.

"We hope it might provoke some sort of reaction from them because they still have not explained why they voted, in a free vote, for the smoking ban.

"They seem to have just kept avoiding the issue. We hope this will send out a message to the Government as well. The smoking ban in a recipe for enforced bankruptcy.

"Everybody I speak to in the industry is on their knees. The traditional pubs were in decline anyway, but the Government out the boot in with the smoking ban.

"If Gordon Marsden or Joan Humble turned up at my pub, I would have to say to them 'I'm sorry, you're barred."

Joan Humble, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, said she was disappointed to hear of the ban.

She said: "I do not often go out to pubs in that area, but when I've spoken to other publicans in Blackpool, many have told me the smoking ban has helped them bring in new customers and have welcomed it.

"We must not under-estimate the pressure on our pubs at the moment.

There is a challenge for the local pubs, but banning Gordon and I is not the way to tackle it.

"Hamish and his colleagues are focusing on one issue, but there are many complex issues, including the fact people can buy cheaper alcohol in supermarkets and drink at home."

The pub industry says it has been hit by a damaging cocktail of the smoking ban, rising food and utility costs, declining consumer spending and cheap alcohol in supermarkets.

Around 60 pubs a week are closing nationally with many publicans blaming the effect of the smoking ban.
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk


100 pub jobs lost as firm folds
13 September 2008
By Peter Ranscombe
THE effects of the smoking ban and a downturn in trade caused by the credit crunch were yesterday blamed for the voluntary liquidation of CMC Management, which will result in the closure of 15 pubs across Scotland.

Crawford Mitchell and Gary Colton, CMC Management's directors, said the a significant downturn in trade had made it "impossible" for the pubs to continue trading.

About 100 jobs will be lost following liquidation, which was granted by Falkirk SherADVERTISEMENTiff Court on Wednesday.

Pubs affected by the voluntary liquidation include the Gray Horse, in Edinburgh, the Stirling Arms, in Dunblane, and the Victoria Hotel, in Nairn.

Maureen Leslie, of MLM Insolvency, said: "We were appointed by the court after CMC Management directors applied for voluntary liquidation.

"It is our understanding that a general downturn in business after the smoking ban was introduced and the significant reduction in trade due to the credit crunch are the two main factors behind the business failing.

"In this case, the directors have no further comment to make." Leslie said the directors would carry on with CMC Inns, their other business, which includes about five other pubs on different terms from the breweries, with longer leases.

She added that the units within CMC Inns were better performing pubs.

Leslie said: "We are seeing more and more businesses going into liquidation as a result of the credit crunch.

"Businesses are increasingly finding it much more challenging to make ends meet as people spend less and the cost of running a business increases."
http://business.scotsman.com

Agyness Deyn flouts smoking ban at New York Fashion Week
Supermodel has a sneaky fag backstage at catwalk show

Agyness Deyn has been snapped having a crafty cigarette backstage at New York Fashion Week.

The supermodel flouted the ban in front of a 'No Smoking' sign as she relaxed in the VIP area at Anna Sui’s catwalk show.

She had earlier strutted the catwalk in a gold leaf-print jacket and chunky accessories.

Agyness, 25, is dating Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr, 28.
http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk


BRAINTREE: Bar battle goes up in smoke
Thursday, September 11, 2008, 16:52
Be the first reader to comment on this story.

A LANDLORD who single-handedly took on Braintree District Council over the smoking ban has been forced to close his bar.
Paul Keenan, co-owner of Hogs Wine Bar, Bradford Street, repeatedly flouted the ban after the council ruled his outside smoking area, which he built as part of a £200,000 refit, was a noise nuisance to neighbours.
Now Paul blames the "massive" impact of the ban, followed by the "final nail in the coffin" – the credit crunch – for sending his business under.
"Anyone outside the town centre is in trouble," he said. "So many landlords are not going to recover from the smoking ban. At the age of 42, I have to start all over again."
He says he has lost £200,000-worth of investment in the bar, plus £500,000 of equity on the building which he says he "couldn't give away".

Paul's plight is a reflection of a national trend which is seeing pub closures accelerate at an alarming rate.
Fellow anti-smoking ban landlord Brendan Flynn, who introduced electronic cigarettes in his bar, Brendan's, in East Street, earlier this year, said the situation was desperate.
"Pubs are being absolutely destroyed." he said. "I know of four or five pubs in this town alone that may fold in the space of the next few weeks. If the recession gets any harder, I will be in trouble too."
http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk

Smokers hit by 'seven screws' ban

The gazebo was put up in the pub's garden to cater for smokers
A York pub landlord has been told to knock down a gazebo put up for smokers in his garden because of seven screws.

Robin Watson built the facility in The Shoulder of Mutton's beer garden after the introduction of the smoking ban.

He used the screws to secure the gazebo to the ground, but York Council said the move breached planning rules.

Because it is fixed to the concrete and has been in place for more than a year, it requires planning permission, said a council spokeswoman.

Such a structure is deemed "permanent", she explained.

Mr Watson said he was sent a letter from the council which gave him three choices: Apply for planning permission, take the structure down, or be liable for a £20,000 fine. The council seem to see it as a way to make more money out of businesses

Mr Watson said: "They know how many pubs are closing down at the moment. I can't understand why they are pressing on with something so petty as this.

"If you did this in your own back garden there would be no pressure whatsoever.

"We pay all our council rates. The council seems to see it as a way to make more money out of businesses."

A spokeswoman for York Council said: "The council's planning enforcement team has written to the owners of the property asking them to take the structure down or apply for planning permission."

http://news.bbc.co.uk

A small victory for common sense, but the battle goes on
Saturday August 2, 2008
A ruling by a top court in Germany offers some hope to smokers, but it could yet end in tears. Joe Jackson reports.

You may have heard that a couple of days ago, the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany declared smoking bans unconstitutional and ordered them to be partially reversed. Unfortunately this is not quite the case, though the ruling is a provisional victory of sorts.

The situation is this:

(1) The Federal Government conceded the power to ban smoking to the 16 individual States (Lander). They all came up with different laws, which mostly went into effect in January 2008. Most of them, including the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg, allow separate smoking rooms (so long as they are not the ‘main room’). In Bavaria private clubs are exempt, so thousands of venues have just turned into ‘private clubs’.

(2) There has been great resistance to bans – not only bars etc defying the law but some city and state officials saying they won’t enforce it. Enforcement in Berlin has been pretty lax. Nevertheless business has gone down by at least 30% in nonsmoking bars, and unlike in, say, the UK, where the mainstream media and politicians declare the ban a great success even though pubs are going out of business, in Germany everyone seems to know about it. Thousands of customers are going across the borders to Poland or Belgium, where bars still allow smoking. Public opinion also seems to have been on the side of the small bar owners who have been most affected.

(3) A group of small bars, mostly from Berlin, forced a Judicial Review, on the basis that the ban was unfair on bars which were not able to have a separate room. The Constitutional Court has just ruled in their favour. BUT …

THE DOWN SIDE:
(a) The ruling is basically that there should be a ‘level playing field’: either let the small bars allow smoking or have a total ban everywhere. Thus this can be seen as opening the door to an even worse situation later.
(b) The antismoking fascists now have another year and a half to bombard us with propaganda and push for a more comprehensive ban.

THE UP SIDE:
(a) The states now have until the end of 2009 to re-write their laws, and until then, smoking is allowed.
(b) The rights of bar owners and the fact that smoking bans hurt business, have been officially recognised.
(c) It demonstrates that action can make a difference.
(d) We have another year and a half to fight the antismoking fascists.

In the meantime, I’m off to the corner pub for a beer and a fag.

Joe Jackson is a writer and musician
http://www.thefreesociety.org

Outside smoking banned at pub
By John Harrington

A licensee has been ordered to refuse service to customers who smoke on the street outside her pub.

Back to article list
This message must be carried on signs at the entrance and on street-facing windows as a new condition of the licence at the Horse & Jockey in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

The unusual conditions were imposed at a review, called after a resident asked for the premises licence to be rescinded — and tenant Janis Harmer removed as designated premises supervisor (DPS) — due to noise from within the premises and from smokers outside.

The signs, which must be at least A4 in size, say: “Customers must not smoke on the street outside these premises. Any person failing to observe this condition will be refused further service at the bar upon re-entry.”

The Punch Taverns pub is also banned from using TVs or amplified music outside after 9pm.

Despite the restrictions, Harmer said the council’s decision was “a big relief”, adding, “I thought something would happen to the premises licence or I would be removed [as DPS]. That’s the pressure I was under.”

Harmer said the outdoor smoking ban had had a “marginal” effect on trade. However, she is making it clear that the decision is not hers, but “on the order of the council” according to the signs.

Morning Advertiser legal editor Peter Coulson said the outdoor ban appeared to be “unreasonable, but it’s the kind of condition that can be imposed at a review”.

He said: “The alternative is to go to the magistrates to say this condition is difficult to enforce, so can you think of one that’s more reasonable? But to appeal at the magistrates costs £400, which is a deterrent.”
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk

Irish Republic-Convictions for flouting smoking ban on the rise

CONVICTIONS obtained under the smoking ban have jumped threefold, new figures reveal.

According to the figures, supplied by the Office of Tobacco Control, 16 convictions were obtained in 2004, with this figure hitting 49 in 2007. The smoking ban was brought in by former Health Minister Micheal Martin on March 29, 2004. Similar bans have since been introduced in countries such as Denmark and France.

Last year more than six convictions relating to incidents such as people smoking in front of publicans. Eleven related to people, like bar managers, permitting smoking in non-compliant outdoor smoking areas.

Twenty-nine were for permitting smoking in places such as a bar counter or within a pub or taxi.

There were also two convictions for obstruction and interference with an authorised officer, while another related to the failure to display the required signage.

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) carry out prosecutions under the Public Health (Tobacco) Act.

There are more than 540 Environmental Health Officers dealing with environmental issues and tobacco control, a number which has not changed significantly since the introduction of the ban.

Fine Gael Health Spokesman, Dr James Reilly, last night branded the increase a "worrying trend".

"It an extremely serious public health issue. There are clearly people prepared to flout the law.

"Those who do this should face the full rigours of the law."

However, a spokesman for the Office of Tobacco Control last night defended the rate of compliance, insisting it was 95pc.
http://www.independent.ie

Hotel owner prosecuted for smoking on her own premises
A hotel owner has been prosecuted for smoking a cigarette in her property while nobody else was there.

By Chris Irvine
Patricia Coupeland was given a 12 month conditional discharge by Blackpool magistrates after she admitted smoking on a smoke-free premises.

Ms Coupeland, 50, of the Cheers Hotel in Blackpool, told a court the hotel was closed at the time and not taking in guests.

She said: "I was in the dining room doing my paperwork and having a cigarette. It was closed as a hotel at the time and was therefore my private home. There were no guests. I only had a friend stay. The health officer came across as vicious and a person with attitude."

Victoria Cartmell, prosecuting for Blackpool Council, told the court that on February 1 environmental health officer Alan Taylor arrived at the hotel to carry out a hygiene inspection.

She said: "The defendant returned from the kitchen with a cigarette which she continued to smoke in the bar area.

"The defendant confirmed it was a smoke-free hotel, but said it was her own home and she was free to smoke in her own home.

"The officer said smoking in her private quarters was okay, but not in the bar."

Ms Coupeland was issued a £50 on the spot fine, which would have been reduced to £30 had it been paid in 15 days, although the penalty was not paid.

Last month, a painter and decorator was left "dumbfounded" after receiving a £30 fine for smoking a cigarette in his own van.

Gordon Williams, 58, of Llanafan, Aberystwyth, says he had popped to the shops when he was pulled over by Ceredigion council officials.

He said: "I am dumbfounded - the van is only insured for private use and to get me to and from work.

"It's not my place of work - I decorate houses not vans."

Rules defining when a vehicle can be treated as a place of work are complex.

While company cars in which passengers are carried are classed as one, there is confusion over private vehicles depending on whether thay are mainly used for work.

Last year, the Rolling Stones were not prosecuted despite repeatedly flouting the smoking ban when performing at the O2 Arena in London - Greenwich borough council said nothing could be done because fans at the venue had not objected.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk

There's no smoke without ire - that's the real outrage
Victoria Coren The Observer, Sunday August 10 2008
Britain is gasping in sympathy with Linda Buchanan, the hapless Kent commuter who was pushed on to a railway track by two men she had 'ticked off' for smoking. Everyone is shaken by the idea of this ghastly, nightmarish experience. We are all standing closer to walls as we wait for trains. Poor, terrified Linda Buchanan.

Having said that ... On a bad day, I'd have shoved her off the platform myself.

Of course, this is a horrible story. But not just because there are people who push other people on to railway tracks. This was not a meeting of good and evil. It was a meeting of bad and worse.

Mrs Buchanan, who was helped off the track with a hurt wrist, has been hailed as a hero in the press. Shouting at the smokers, she did 'what any good citizen might do'. She is 'a woman unafraid to intervene when something is wrong'. She 'highlights what ordinary people risk by confronting thugs'.

Bollocks. This woman is not a Ben Kinsella (stabbed to death trying to break up a street brawl) or a Philip Lawrence (killed trying to protect the children at St George's school, where he was headmaster, from a gang of bullies), although one newspaper had the tasteless nerve to compare her to both. Mrs Buchanan wasn't being a hero, she was being a busybody.

People who step in when others are being attacked or threatened are not aiming purely to uphold the law. That's why it's so pointless and unhelpful for the police to advise us 'not to take the law into our own hands' in these situations. It is not about the law. It is what the law's about. Social responsibility, morality, right and wrong. If you see somebody in danger, you don't just walk past and leave them to their fate. Legal, illegal, who cares; it's morally wrong to ignore someone who is terrified, alone and needs help.

Easy for me to say, as a woman. I have twice got involved in situations where I thought somebody was about to get hurt - or, at least, was being terrorised - once when a biker was thumping on a female motorist's car after a skirmish at a traffic light, and once when a man in the street was trying to yank a baby from the arms of a woman (I assume his wife) and she was literally screaming for help.

It's much easier for a woman to walk up and try to calm the situation; you do it in the fairly confident assumption that you're not about to get attacked yourself. If it happens, it happens (better than going home, putting the kettle on and idly wondering if anyone got murdered), but in my experience so far it hasn't. This is statistically more dangerous for men. My father was always a one for: 'Leave that woman alone!' and: 'Give you my wallet? You'll have to kill me first!' and I hated it. I thought, one day, someone might.

Philip Lawrence and Ben Kinsella, and all men who put themselves at risk to protect others, are heroes. Not so a commuter who bustles up to unleash the sharp end of her tongue on a guy having a quiet cigarette while he waits for a train. He's not the bully; she is.

Non-smokers have won, do you understand? We, the weak and addicted, with our revolting habit, who will waste money and lose lovers and die young in our stupid helpless pursuit of small nicotine comforts, have lost the war. You, the strong and healthy and pure, have taken all your land back: you've got the aeroplanes, the cinemas, the theatres, the restaurants, the pubs, you've got the inside of the whole world.

And we stand outside, cold and miserable and addicted and embarrassed, on the naughty step, hunched over our desperate little 'treats'... and still you come scurrying over to shout at us. Outside railway stations, in the street, outside restaurants on the three days a year we can comfortably eat there; you lean across to revel in your power, demonstrate your superior self-denial, and tell us how disgusting we are. The powerful sneering at the losers.

Unfortunately for Mrs Buchanan, she picked the wrong victim. She inadvertently ticked off someone truly horrible, who exacted the inexcusable revenge of pushing her off the platform a couple of days later. Appalling, indefensible, I hope the police catch up with the man, or men, and throw away the key. (Assuming they have locked some sort of door with it first.) But that doesn't make Linda Buchanan right.

Have you seen the train platform at Farningham Road, Swanley? It's a great long stretch, completely open to the sky. It is a huge, airy Serengeti of space. Mrs Buchanan might just as well have trekked across the Sahara, shouting criticism through a megaphone at a distant farting nomad.

Since we have a priggish, disapproving, bullying, absolutist government, which refused to bring in a (good, correct) smoking ban by stages, the Farningham smokers were technically breaking the law even by having a crafty snout on an outdoor platform. But why was this Mrs Buchanan's problem? Anyone who didn't like it could have moved further down, in the fresh air. Nobody was getting hurt but the smokers themselves. They weren't breaking the Ten Commandments.

There's nothing heroic about 'ticking off' a smoker whose air you're not obliged to share. That's like 'ticking someone off' for parking on a yellow line, or for swearing in a private conversation: not doing something right, but something self-righteous. It is done by those who look around the world in smug disapproval of everything, who make personal remarks, who bitch and criticise, who feel superior. It's rude.

Poor Linda Buchanan, who suffered such a horrible assault. I'm very glad she is on the mend. But I'm even gladder that she doesn't live next door to me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk