ROYAL APPROVAL OF POLAND?

It's shame that Twinings is moving out of the UK and into Poland taking 286 jobs with it.

My other half's initial reaction was fear that the tea would't taste the same if it wasn't made in England. I pointed out that tea originates from India so it would probably be OK.

We drink Twinings and Yorkshire - loads of it. What we buy depends on which is cheaper at the supermarket. The price tends to change a bit from week to week.

I started buying it when I moved to Cornwall and couldn't find Yorkshire Tea. Twinings was "By Royal Appointment" after all and I thought if it was good enough for Her Maj then it was good enough for me. I wasn't disappointed. I am now.

Perhaps the Queen should rethink giving Royal approval to this particular tea company and perhaps consider bestowing it instead on one that considers the impact of a loss of jobs for British subjects.

Meanwhile, I think I'll stick with Yorkshire Tea.

You can turn back

I’ve often heard it claimed that the main reason for introducing the smoking ban in the UK was the protection of workers. This, of course, is completely spurious, as:

• It is widely documented that the main driver for the ban was an attempt to reduce the prevalence of smoking
  
• There is no scientifically credible evidence that environmental tobacco smoke represents a danger to health anyway
  
• Even if there was some small danger, the protection of workers could easily have been achieved without a blanket ban – after all, smoking is still permitted in hotel rooms
  
• There are many occupations that are still allowed, but where there is a far greater and better proven risk to health, such as farming, mining and quarrying, and deep sea fishing

But even if you taken the claim at face value, it rather falls over if a pub has no employees. So, the Netherlands has decided to lift its smoking ban for small “mom and pop” bars that are solely run by the proprietors. No doubt they will be looking forward to a substantial increase in trade.

The structure of the trade is different in this country, with very few pubs and bars that don’t employ any staff, but I would imagine many of the small evenings-only “box bars” that have opened in former shop premises could qualify – though no doubt the big pubs would whinge that they couldn’t compete on a level playing field. A growth in small, individual, independent bars could be just what the licensed trade needs.

And this news gives the lie to the assertion that there is “no going back” from the British smoking ban. If it can happen in Holland, it can happen here.

PRISONER AND MIGRANT EQUALITY

I'm working away from home most days and from Wednesday the travel to work time is up to an hour and a half each way. That doesn't leave me with much energy to blog when I get home especially during the latter half of the week. That means I miss my chance to rant when something in the news breaks that pisses me off.

It also means that sometimes those things I observe during my present daily routine are pushed to the back of my mind until the urge to blog strikes.

This week I heard about the EU ruling that gives prisoners the right to vote and all the critical comments made about that.

My own view is that some prisoners should. One person's "criminal" is another person's "political prisoner." Pub landlord Nick Hogan for example. If he had been forced to stay locked up for the whole of the six months he would have missed the election. He was locked up simply because smoking is a political issue and he was made an example of. He took no one's human right. He offered it. Choice.

I would not like to see child killers, murderers, rapists and fraudsters able to choose the next party of power. Some say they should be treated as humans and not monsters. I say they took away the human rights of their victims. God might forgive them one day but that is not our job.

I think the policy will be exploited by the BNP who target the underclass on sink estates whose lifestyles continuously bring them into conflict with the law. That can only be a bad move. I think to avert the threat of a rise in BNP support, UKIP must find a way of engaging and involving the underclass who feel powerless and victimised.

The other piece of news that caught my attention was the EU ruling that the UK has to treat Migrants fairer by giving them benefits earlier. It brought to mind a case I saw at court involving an Eastern European migrant.

He got 14 weeks for shop theft and was let out after serving half of his sentence which is normal UK practice with all offenders as is giving them £90 when they are released.

The migrant used his £90 quid discharge grant to get somewhere to live on the day he came out. With no work or money he went shop lifting again, got caught and ended up back before the court. The magistrates were told that if they sent him back to prison then he'd be in the same position when he came out.

The solicitor said : "It wouldn't achieve anything positive and would only result in more of a burden on the tax payer."

The bench sent him back to jail to serve the last seven weeks and imposed another four. I wonder how much that's costing. I wonder why we can't send these people back when they fall into drugs and crime. We are doing them no favours here. We have nothing to offer. I don't see the benefit to them or the UK of EU migration.