A GLASS (or a head) half empty

     

 Smoking bans KILL businesses-FACT !

     Recently, last month actually, the Working Mens Clubs magazine (the Club Journal) featured a 'keynote' speech by the Labour MP for NW Durham, Mrs Pat Glass. Her contribution to save the diminishing club scene? Incorporate libraries, youth clubs and whatever else the CIU can do to 'support' local communities.
     Now according to Dr Ruth Cherrington (who wrote the book Not Just beer and Bingo, (a damned good read actually) Henry Solly wanted clubs where the working classes could retire, in peace, to enjoy a pint or three in orderly fashion afore they returned home; ie, away from day to day, mundane matters.
     As you are all aware the CIU have been lobbying for separate smoking rooms, indeed, a survey goes out again in next months issue of the CJ to guage the clubs reactions after 6 years of persecution for those who choose to smoke-the results will be interesting to say the least.
     There was one part of this sad woman's speech that really struck home and I repeat it here: 

“I appreciate that it remains the policy of the CIU to petition for separate smoking rooms but I believe that the health benefits of the smoking ban are clear and, in my view, are not likely to be overturned.”

     Note that she (Pat Glass) 'believes' that the health benefits are clear! You may ask exactly what are 'they are as clear as' because I find no clear evidence at all-so we have asked this crazy woman, who managed to gain a Parliamentary seat in an area where you could dress a monkey up in red attire and see it voted in!

(The nations assassins-the gruesome twosome!)

     Blair/Brown financially crippled this country, but certain sections of this country cannot see that voting red only worsens their plight. Worse still, voting blue or tangerine is no better these days for Camoron has just returned from his ticking off at the 'secret' Bilderberg meeting and Cleggs mob are finished as they are useless-in fact they are worse than useless! The sooner this country, realises that a purple vote will be for the betterment of this country the better, for the "foraging Faragers" are hell-bent on getting us OUT of this excruciatingly painful alliance with the EU version of the Titanic.
     However, I digress, so back to our response to this blatantly 'out of her depth' female who's tirade we had the great displeasure to listen to/read about.

Dear Pat Glass (MP),

I have read your speech at the CIU conference and also the retort in the Club Journal from Mr Sean Spillane, who I must say is justifiably angry.

Your response to his letter is: “I appreciate that it remains the policy of the CIU to petition for separate smoking rooms but I believe that the health benefits of the smoking ban are clear and, in my view, are not likely to be overturned.”

I must immediately ask the question Mrs Glass, “exactly how, and precisely where can you prove to me that the health benefits are clear?”

You have yourself, in one simple master-stroke of sheer ‘un-genius’, shown the world that you know nothing of what smoking is all about, as first the French, and now the Italians have openly admitted that smoking bans have absolutely nothing to do with health! They are about people’s perceptions of what looks good and what doesn’t-end of!

So, would you be referring to the mercurial heart attack studies that showed a 17% drop after the smoking ban - the shamefully distorted ‘study’ by Prof Jill Pell that was absolutely rubbished within 48hrs of its release-or do her bogus ‘statistics’ not matter as they initially showed the required result?

Would you be referring to the ‘so called’ asthma studies that showed massive decreases in asthma cases needing hospital treatments – again by the highly tarnished Jill Pell and again comprehensively discredited within 48hrs of release- or do her bogus ‘statistics’ not matter as they initially showed the required result? Asthma & traffic fumes anyone? Asthma has been here since Roman times-has it not!

Would you deem the smoking ban a huge success when Scotland have reported a virtual 0% decrease in smokers after 7 miserable years of stigmatisation, denormalisation & absolute discrimination; some areas still showing a 33% prevalence and with 6 pubs closing per week the economy is diminishing too.

            Would you deem the smoking ban a huge success when Wales have just admitted that they are ‘distraught’ after having formulated that they have only occasioned a 1% decrease in six years of bullying smokers?

Would you deem the smoking ban a success when an insurance company reports that there are now at least 3 million ‘secret’ smokers; ie 3,000,000+ people that now feel it to be a crime to be honest for fear of moral/public retribution?

Would you agree that closing 12,000+ businesses is a sign of great success, not to mention the closures of pubs & clubs alone now running at 26 per week. What about the health of all those people, devastated at losing their life’s ambition, their ‘retirement fund’, their livelihoods, their homes & their dignity; do you think that their health has improved at all Mrs Glass-or are they simply collateral damage to a member of the party that promised exemptions?

Would you also agree that, with all the social outlets closing, loneliness is improving the health of our ever, longer lasting populace? Jeremy Hunt certainly doesn’t think it is as 1 in 5 has only a television set for company!

Do you actually think that the smoking ban has improved the health of the 200,000 now unemployed that once worked within the hospitality sector? Labour can only blame themselve’s for starting the new unemployment craze!

Do you ever wonder why not one death has been recorded as caused by Second Hand Smoke?

Do you ever wonder what the government (including Labour if they ever regain power-and I certainly cannot see the people of this country being so stupid as to vote for such, although there is ‘now’t so strange as folk’) will do without “Tobacco Taxes” which amount to approximately £11bn per annum? Oh sorry Mrs Glass, of course that won’t ever happen as tobacco will never be made illegal - governments can’t ‘do’ without the revenue!

Do you ever wonder at the unbelievable amount of rubbish that ASH, CRUK come out with (it cannot possibly be proved that SHS is responsible for approximately 11,000 deaths each year), or, the incredible surveys suddenly produced by Peter Kellner (YouGov) to supposedly back-up these so called studies?

Do you ever sit back and ask yourself who is actually benefitting from this anti-smoking propaganda? Did you not ask why certain smoking cessation drugs (Champix et al) were rushed into the market place before testing had been concluded? Did you not ask the families of those killed by Champix, Chantix, Zyban, Varencline if they thought their loved one’s health had benefited-or even if the deceased people’s health had improved before they became deceased?

(The company that found more than 2,000 lawsuits filed against them!)

Do you ever wonder why we are paying the World Health Organisation circa $33m per annum, only for them to tell us how to destroy our economy-or are such matters immaterial?

Do you ever wonder, after 40 years of trying to eradicate illegal drugs (and finally admitting defeat last year), just how many $trillions the above named organisation wasted in pursuit of the impossible-or does the cost not bother you at all?

Do you know that this smoking ban (upon the orders of the vile & destructive EU) [check Lacors if you wish] has corrupted our legal system to such an extent that any smoking related prosecutions are now looked upon as guilty until proven innocent and not the correct way, which once gave our legal system the greatest credibility in the world-or don’t you care about that either?

Do you know that the WHO are now pressurising poor countries to eradicate their tobacco plantations, eg Zimbabwe (to start with), which will throw another 4 million people into poverty after decades of fighting to survive-or do you even care?

Do you know how many nurses or night-time workers have been assaulted, beaten, raped, even murdered because they were forced outside to enjoy their ‘fag break’-or do you even care?

Do you care about the children that have died simply because the anti-smoking Jihad have brainwashed a parent that smoking is ‘the mother of all evils’-or do you even care?

Do you know how many children have committed suicide for fear of facing family shame for having the audacity to experiment (as all children do with something or other) with a cigarette-or do you even care?

My club membership this year saw me move up the list by some 300 places, yet upon checking the public records I found that considerably less than 20 members had actually died. ‘They’ hadn’t moved on to the club less than a mile down the road either because that shut down 2 years ago thanks to the smoking ban. The smokers had simply learned to drink at home as many now do-house “drinky/smoky’s” or garden “drinky/smoky’s”, they really are becoming quite the norm. This, of course, greatly assists the closure rates -or don’t you care about that either?

The smoking ban has, at time of writing, cost this country £32.5bn and has achieved very little, excepting of course, aiding the wealth of certain anti-tobacco organisations and their employees; death registers show very little difference year on year.

Funnily enough Mrs Glass, 80% of lung cancers are NOT attributable to smoking/smokers/SHS and 49% of lung transplants are from smokers!

How many more questions would you like me to ask Mrs Glass? How much more proof would you like before you accept that the smoking ban has been an all-round disaster and is only upheld by the very few that simply abhor the smell of smoke yet happily walk around snorting up exhaust fumes by the cubic litre? There is one photograph that sums the hypocrisy of this smoking ban up very nicely for our children are subjected to massive amounts of poisonous fumes the moment they are taken outside for the first time…

(Hit me with your toxic stick, hit me, HIT ME!)

Government is fighting off £300m fines from the EU for our abysmal air pollution yet you happily blame the humble cigarette-unbelievable! You are one of the many who will happily sit back and watch this country into bankruptcy because none of the politicians that voted in complete ignorance (and were sucked in by ASHs ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ campaign) have the balls to stand up and state the truth-a total ban was WRONG.

You mentioned that you had ‘listened to many complaints about the smoking ban’ but you have decided it will never be repealed. Who are you Mrs Glass? You are an elected representative of the people, not the judge, jury & executioner on matters that you disagree with-why do you not put a sign up on your website/surgery door stating that people are only allowed to talk with you about things that you like and that democracy no longer lives in North West Durham!

            (Raise a glass to Adolf!)                                (….. but not pubs & clubs)

As a final word on your abysmal speech Mrs Glass, as a fellow non-smoker, no one is asking “…… to be overturned”. May I ask who has asked, specifically, for the smoking ban to be overturned? Amended, yes, without doubt, the most sensible option of all. How many clubs are of the single room model (one I think!) therefore all clubs could easily accommodate a smoking room and a non-smoking room. Staff would have an option of working in the smoking room or not, depending on their opinions on this idiotic law. But as your party deemed it fit to leave government at the last election with the hilariously funny little note “Sorry, but there is nothing left” I doubt very much that common sense will prevail!

And considering that this law was blasted through on the back of lies, fabrications, manipulated statistics & total utter junk science then it certainly does not show the competence of the Labour Party in good light at all-and you are part of it now, so what hope for this country?

I look forward to your response with great interest Mrs Glass.

Yours sincerely

Phil Johnson

Saffron Lane Working Men’s Club

Saffron lane

Leicester

     So folks, according to this silly woman who knows s.b.a about the needs of the working classes, we now need giant shopping malls (hypermarkets even?) where pubs, clubs, butchers, libraries, girl guide groups, street sellers, a Wilco's, a B&Q, maybe a travel agents and a hairdressers, not to mention a betting Office, can all be incorporated under one roof. Hopefully, somewhere under that giant canopy will be a place for one of the few remaining WMC's-because someone might just want a chance to get away from all the above mentioned and to sit quietly with a pint-just as Henry Solly envisaged!

     Who needs MPs like this where the glass is obviously half empty?