Comments on: Smokers – State Approved Hate and Intolerance is UK Policy

By: Nancy Sympton

Nancy Sympton — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:33:14 +0000

I just p[leased to read that It is mildly surprising that Switzerland offers some of the best facilities for travelling smokers despite being home to the WHO an organization that seeks to impose its politicised extra budgetary funded will on all without actually having to do anything as inconvenient as obtaining a popular mandate at this time. And I appreciate that State Approved Hate and Intolerance is UK Policy. Thanks for this http://www.floraandmuse.com/ allocation.

By: ChrisB

ChrisB — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:42:13 +0000

Junican – Simon at Forest has a very clear account of recent YouGov plain packaging questions.
http://taking-liberties.squarespace.com/blog/2012/4/16/how-ash-and-yougov-manipulated-the-result-of-that-plain-pack.html

By: Junican

Junican — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:35:05 +0000

I think that the fact that the smoking ban was not rigorously contested in the first place has contributed to the manic craze of ASH ET AL. It is clear that the short-term thinking of pubcos contributed to the malaise. Brewers seem intent upon similar appeasement.

It can only be that, apart from ASH ET AL, all the various organisations are short-term thinkers. Profit TODAY is the be-all and end-all. Politicians need profits TODAY in terms of votes, which is why they follow opinion polls so closely, and why ASH ET AL make such a fuss of YouGov surveys (which are wide open to abuse as I have illustrated at the Bolton Smokers Club).

I think that there has been a coincidental conjunction of the short-term thinking of politicians and organisations which ought really to be opposing any interference in their affairs. The long-term thinking of ASH ET AL has exploited this fact mercilessly. (I mean mercilessly in the effect of the ‘war’ within these groups and the effect of that war on innocent PETS (People who Enjoy Tobacco).

At least there seems to be some slight hope of Cabinet opposition to ‘plain packaging’. It is to be hoped that some sort of concerted questioning of ‘for the children’ will be examined.

By: Anthony G

Anthony G — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:43:20 +0000

I agree with everything said here- well done for saying it so well. I was against the smoking ban because I thought that locals and or local councils could have sorted this out so much better.. and with the latest plain packaging idea the the government is turning into a viscious bully.

Why can’t we be allowed to sort these things out ourselves?

Didnt this coalition promise an end of big, bossy, state interference and “top down” lever pulling coming to an end?

By: Mr A

Mr A — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:42:20 +0000

The last two paragraphs say it all for me. Well said! Replace any of this anti-smoker rhetoric with the word “gay” or “Jew” and it would be rightly seen as hate crime. I’ve even seen people threatening to shoot smokers on some comments forums! Not only is this not seen as unacceptable or as an incitement to violence, so ingrained is the denormalisation campaign, the newspapers who would report such posts were they directed at minorities, simply blithely publish them without even accepting that such views are extreme.

That such intolerance is wholly State sponsored is even more scary. Thsi is not and never has been about smoking. It’s about the State deliberately denormalising a large section of its own citizens. Very scary stuff….