Lincoln MP and public health minister Gillian Merron recently announced that she only represents smokers who want to quit and not those who don't. She made it clear during a question about whether or not she would support the Save Our Pubs and Clubs amendthesmokingban.com campaign that the Govt wouldn't support it because they want to help smokers who want to quit.
Yeah right, Gillian! Perhaps you should get out in your constituency a bit more because if you sat in the Jolly Brewer pub in Lincoln, you might have had the conversation that I had with one of your pet smokers who wants to quit.
As I sat on an outside table bemoaning the anti-social ban, a drunk on the next table butted in and said he liked it.
"Why?" I asked him. "Isn't it like being a turkey and voting to be killed at Christmas?"
"No," he replied. "I want to stop smoking so I like the ban. The doctor told me I will die if I don't stop. I've recently come out of hospital after having pneumonia." He then a lit a cigarette and began to cough his way through it instead of going inside where he couldn't smoke thanks to his mate Merron.
In truth, Ms Merron, people like him will still smoke whether you ban it inside or outside. In truth, isn't this ban really about the fact that middle class NuLab hates smokers and the smell of smoke and that your party is trying to socially engineer people through discrimnination, coercion, and bullying to create a world in the image that you want without giving a damn about what the majority thinks... and please do not insult me by saying the majority wanted a ban when you must know that your party fiddled the stats and ONS survey to get the result you wanted!
Meanwhile, you hide this bigotry under a false laurel of care. You really do make me sick.
Yeah right, Gillian! Perhaps you should get out in your constituency a bit more because if you sat in the Jolly Brewer pub in Lincoln, you might have had the conversation that I had with one of your pet smokers who wants to quit.
As I sat on an outside table bemoaning the anti-social ban, a drunk on the next table butted in and said he liked it.
"Why?" I asked him. "Isn't it like being a turkey and voting to be killed at Christmas?"
"No," he replied. "I want to stop smoking so I like the ban. The doctor told me I will die if I don't stop. I've recently come out of hospital after having pneumonia." He then a lit a cigarette and began to cough his way through it instead of going inside where he couldn't smoke thanks to his mate Merron.
In truth, Ms Merron, people like him will still smoke whether you ban it inside or outside. In truth, isn't this ban really about the fact that middle class NuLab hates smokers and the smell of smoke and that your party is trying to socially engineer people through discrimnination, coercion, and bullying to create a world in the image that you want without giving a damn about what the majority thinks... and please do not insult me by saying the majority wanted a ban when you must know that your party fiddled the stats and ONS survey to get the result you wanted!
Meanwhile, you hide this bigotry under a false laurel of care. You really do make me sick.