Antony Worral Thompson, the celebrity chef, is spearheading a campaign to overturn the ban on smoking in British pubs.
The Ready-Steady-Cook star and restaurateur is leading the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign calling for changes to the blanket ban which came into force in 2007.
Campaigners say the ban is "ripping the heart out" of British pubs, which are now closing at a rate of 40 a month, and want publicans to be allowed to tempt customers back by permitting smoking in some areas.
Around 250 pubs have signed up to the campaign and organisers hope thousands more will follow.
MPs from all three main parties have also leant their support.
Mr Worrall Thompson is one of 19 signatories to a letter in today's Daily Telegraph calling for the ban to be relaxed.
He said: "The smoking ban has had an extraordinarily detrimental effect on pubs and clubs and you can understand why. They used to be bastions of adult entertainment where young and old could meet and chat over a pint without the health police looking over their shoulders... The legislation as it stands is excessive and I would like to see it amended."
The campaign is aiming to secure amendments to the ban when it comes up for review in 2010. Options being put forward include allowing pubs to provide sealed smoking rooms with modern ventilation systems, repealing the ban in all pubs except those which serve food, and allowing publicans to choose whether their venues are smoking or non-smoking.
Neil Rafferty, a spokesman for the campaign, said: "This ban is absolutely ripping the heart out of the pub industry and it is hugely unpopular.
"There are tens of thousands of lifelong Labour supporters who are deeply, deeply angry about the ban and who will never vote Labour again while it still stands. It must be changed."
What do you think?
Angus
2 comments:
Difficult one is this Angus. As a lifelong smoker in the throes of giving it up (and I will) I have some sympathy with those who wish to discourage people from smoking especially the young. I started at the tender age of sixteen, mainly I think through peer pressure. But I am not a great believer in the use of the Law to effect change in attitudes or mores.
Smoking is without doubt a 'stressor' which in turn damages the hba axis and makes one more prone to coronary heart disease but so does large quantities of strong coffee on a regular basis (probably). This is especially so in long term smokers who, like me, then display at least, isolated systolic hypertension or worst. So I constantly rail at any Government who wishes to regiment or control society in minutae, as they seem to and the smoking ban at the time seemed to me to be a perfect example of this deplorable trend.
In the light of my own dilemma about smoking where, now my partner needs my help and support to live, especially (probably) down the line into older age, I want to ensure I am around for as long as possible to provide that. Smoking will likely curtail that so I am trieing hard to quit. But there has to be a place where those who do not want to, or can't, to smoke in reasonable comfort with like minded friends. At least then they will be drinking alcohol which will help to offset the effects of smoking to a degree as people who drink in moderation have a 20% lower risk of heart disease than those who do not.
So my view is a guarded yes to this campaign. The pub's have certainly taken a beating in the last few years but some of it was well deserved. Despite the current climate a local group to me has invested heavily in the pub kitchen concept and they are having to beat off the customers with a stick. Sadly this is an isolated case and many of the pub's I know are either closed or in the grip of a 'dumbded down' version of former glory with '2 can eat for £8' offers.
Bit like the NHS then ?
Like you I am a lifelong smoker, but I do not drink and never have, so going to a pub is not something I do as a rule.
I can also sympathise with people not smoking where there are youngsters, but maybe there shoud be a separate room for smokers, with a powerful ventilation system for those that do smoke.
Unlike you I am now on my own since losing Mrs "A" and I really don't have much incentive to give it up, despite the nagging from my GP.
But I wish you well in your endeavour, and I hope you manage to quit.
As for the NHS I am waiting for the Zero tolerence policy to appear, whereby anyone who has damaged their health by their own means is refused treatment.
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