"Hi - as owner of very large family pub and live music venue my takings have been halved since the smoking ban. I have tried everything to bring in customers from meals at £1.99 (was £4.99) to house spirits at 69p (was £1.80) as well as now do not charge an entrance fee on any night - (was £5) just to entice customers to come in! No other trade has had to drop their prices so dramatically or work so hard just to carry on trading, & keep a roof over my 4 children head and keep 12 staff in jobs. I am dreading the winter as I will probably not be here next year, after 28 years in the trade, my dream which I have spent a lifetime learning about perfecting and now have will be broken and I will most definately be found hanging from a nearby tree with many others like me!!!! Fact. Just because of a smoking ban. Politicians - wake up - how would you feel if, after years of study, extreme hard work, your lifelong career was taken from you, with no chance of another job in that career because that industry had died!! Help us please."
The quote above was taking from Simon Clark's Taking liberties blog under the post about 72 year-old artist David Hockney calling for smoking rooms to be created.
Hockney also spoke of the fear of landlords and cafe owners. Who would have thought that such fear would be felt in this once free and noble land of ours. What have we allowed ourselves to become?
Anyone visiting this blog who has any opinions on the blanket smoking ban in the Uk should visit here :http://takingliberties.squarespace.com/ and leave a comment.