AN OPEN LETTER

Above is my reply from my MP Karl McCartney in response to my request that he support Brian Binley MP's EDM to amend the smoking ban.

Spoken like a true politician, he doesn't commit himself. He says he believes that landlords have the right to choose, yet he quotes the old statistics of the number of people who have allegedly quit up to 2007.

Mr McCartney, I would like to point out that we are three years on from the ban and smoking rates are rising.

this shows how NRT only has a "success" rate of 5% so hard pressed tax payers give the NHS a budget of £50 million and £47.5 million is a wasted. You see, Mr McCartney, there really are some people who do not want to quit and they should not be ignored.

This shows how deceitful the tobacco control lobby is and the underhanded methods they use to con government and the public. Will the Conservatives be stupid enough to fall for more of their lies?

And, yes, Mr McCartney, I do indeed feel very strongly about this issue but that should not invalidate my concerns. If strongly held views were a reason to dismiss such concerns, then how is it that the tobacco control industry - which feels very strongly about the issue - is always listened to yet the other side is always ignored.

You may say that smokers are fighting their corner because they are "addicts" this link clearly puts that lie to bed once for all. "Addiction" to tobacco is yet another lie of the deceitful anti-smoking industry which uses it to denigrate smokers and encourage intolerance against them.

Finally, Mr McCartney, I draw to your attention your immigration minister Damien Green's comments on calls to ban the burka. He said "freedom of choice and tolerance is the British way." I would like to think that you also ascribe to this view and are not selective about who is entitled to it and who is not. I actually agree with Mr Green and have always said I would fight for the right of muslim women to wear the burka if that is what they choose to do.

I find it encouraging that you say you believe in a landlord's right to choose, and I assume you also mean the smoker's right to choose, but hear what you say about EDM's not being the most effective way of achieving an aim. With this in mind, perhaps you would like to lend your support to FOREST'S Save Our Pubs and Clubs, amendthesmoking ban.com

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs Patricia Nurse.

BURKA BAN IS WRONG

I have to say that I'm a bit miffed about UKIP's plan to ban the burka because I support choice.

If woman wants to wear it, I don't have a problem with it, and if it is enforced as a means of oppression, then that should be dealt with as an honour crime or domestic violence issue. My disappointment with UKIP is because this is about a ban.

I joined UKIP because it was a non-racist, liberal party against that sort of thing. This smells a bit ugly but the wearing of the burka shouldn't be a taboo subject for debate either.

Banning things is with us. The smoking ban, and other assaults on people's lifestyles have started the ball rolling. What is said about freedom and choice is as relevant to smoking as it is to the Burka.

In this clip below, Nigel Farage talks about the reasons for UKIP's stance on this and below that a letter from Lord Pearson in the Times.

As the UKIP PPC for Louth and Horncastle, I can say that I will still align my political support with UKIP, where I hope to be able to influence and add my views to the discussion on the burka ban and a woman's right to choose her own mode of dress.

The following letter from UKIP Leader Lord Pearson was published in The Times on Weds 20 January :

Sir,

Alan Sked and Richard Milne (letters, Jan 19) have missed the deeper points about UKIP’s suggestion that the burka should be banned in public places. Your leading article (Jan 16) warned that our proposed ban on wearing the burka in public buildings could set us on the road to fascism. However, one of the 21/7 bombers escaped wearing the burka; the hidden face can also hide a terrorist.

When we talk of terrorism, we usually refer to a problem coming from within Islam. Of all the religions, Islam is the only one whose leaders do not wish their followers to integrate into our society, and Sharia, which can alas be described as gender apartheid, holds growing sway in too many parts of our country. So the burka is a symbol of separation, discrimination and fear.

Nor does it have any place in mainstream Islam. The Grand Mufti of Egypt has said it is “not Islamic”. The Muslim Canadian Congress has described it as a “political issue promoted by extremists”, and called for it to be banned.

Let us not forget that Islam is very different to our Judaeo-Christian culture. It is a religious, political and legal system rolled into one, a whole way of life based on the Koran, and the penalty for leaving it can be death. A ban on the burka would be for freedom, not fascism.

We must not run away from Islam, but debate it openly, particularly with the vast majority of Muslims who are our friends.

Lord Pearson Of Rannoch

Leader, UKIP

Here is a link to a piece in the Express about the need for a debate on the issue and I do, at least, agree with that if there are women out there who are forced into wearing the burka - in the same way that smokers are forced into exclusion.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/152664/We-need-a-proper-debate-on-banning-burkhas-in-Britain