The Ash Hotel in Manchester has been murdered by the smoking ban and had one last act of defiance on it's last night of opening.
It's a real shame that pubs were manipulated to believe the lies from the anti-smoker industry and terrified into submission by bullying Govt threats of prosecution after the Nationalisation of pubs in July 2007.
It's also tragic that an alleged "free market" party like the Conservatives have continued state ownership of private property after the Communist NuLabour Party was booted out because people didn't like it's sanctimonious stance on health and it's horrendous waste of NHS cash on misleading advertising designed to incite hatred against smokers.
The champagne socialists used the patronising excuse that it was "for The Poor" when the "The Poor" frankly want to be left alone.
Life in poverty is difficult enough without the rich telling you what you can spend that limited amount on. They want "The Poor" to be sat at home, as miserable as sin, spending their pittance income - sometimes as little as £50 a week - on food when it doesn't even cover that. The poor are not even allowed to watch TV for fear of prison for not having a licence to fund misinformation and Govt propaganda on the BBC
NuLabour made "The Poor" the enemy with more than 3000 new laws designed to keep them in their place, stopped them from doing whatever they could to make money, bureaucratised them out of job opportunities, stopped them from having any fun possible, while they excluded them from pubs - the one release from the hell that is having nothing - through a blanket smoking ban that no one wanted and just to be sure that the "The Poor" would be excluded, they hiked up tax on beer to ensure that only the rich could enjoy them.
A comment from Xopher on the post about how the bigots are pushing for smokers to be banned from employment explains better than I could about how smoking bans and other lifestyle restrictions are prohibition of "The Poor".
... Dave says he wants us to get together save our local pubs BUT with Government demanding so much tax from drink sales, how can we support a venture that are denied the opportunity to cater for the whole community and only the wealthy can afford. Pubs were an essential for the whole community but now appear to be exclusively for the rich who can afford Government's imposed inflated taxes/prices.
There is something, just a little thing, but something we can do. We can all join the Resistance. Go over to the Nothing2Declare blog and see about getting some stickers or posters and put them out and around where you live next to No Smoking signs - the ones that are as ugly as a Nazi swastika - or on smoking bins, noticeboards, where ever you can reach those who are feeling isolated and alone, maybe because they are too poor to even afford a computer to go online and link up with other like-minded people fighting UK state oppression.
It is time there was some balance in this debate and maybe when enough of these stickers begin to appear, even the main stream media will no longer be able to ignore us, commercial enterprises will see they are backing the wrong cause, and local councils will learn that we will not take any more restrictions.
If you've had enough of this nonsense, then show it. Join The Resistance!