Image nicked from The Angry Exile
I agree with Simon Clark over at Taking Liberties that something seems to be finally stirring among the grass roots smokers and non smokers who are fed up with the escalating nonsense around the smoking issue.
People are finally getting active and making their voices heard outside of the internet with the next protest planned at Stony Stratford
Organiser Dick Puddlecote will be talking about why enough is enough on Talksport Radio tonight at 10.15pm. I hope he mentions something on how the boundaries on where people can and can't smoke have got to ridiculous and obscene dictatorial levels based more on smokerphobia than any proven or real concern for health.
I'll be there on Saturday with my placards, hand outs and my pocket ashtray. My problem with the outdoor ban proposed by Smokerphobic Coun Bartlett is not just because it is unnecessary but because it is the only solution on the table to what is in reality a minor problem.
Bartlett hates to see cig ends in the street so he bans smokers who he clearly dislikes when cigarette ends are a litter problem not a smoker problem. Councils began handing out pocket ashtrays when the ban first came out which was a sensible move but others like Barlett's prefer to criminalise smokers and bolster the "denormalisation" programme instead.
Of course the most sensible thing to do would be to get smokers back inside and reach a sensible compromise to suit both sides of this acrimonious issue. That is why many MPs and grass roots smokers and non smokers support the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign as you can hear in their own words in the two videos below.