Send in the clowns

Pete Robinson is back with a pretty scathing attack on CAMRA over its stance on the smoking ban here in The Publican.

At the time Mike Benner (CAMRA Chief Executive) said: "This survey shows that non-smokers will be attracted to pubs after the ban comes into force", adding: "The key will be to ensure that other factors such as quality of real ale, food, atmosphere and welcome are all superb.

If this is the case then the traditional Community Pub will have a bright and healthy future."

Now that really happened, didn’t it? The widely-held belief that the smoking ban would bring large numbers of new customers into pubs must qualify as one of the biggest mass delusions of the 21st Century.