Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:14 pm
Yes, I'm quite sure that Churchill's polka dot tie was batwing (thank you for the terminology) and Ian Fleming copied him - they both went to T&A.
Cigars - not illegal to buy YET. The thing that holds them back is the tobacco tax, the loss of which would mean that the poor NHS would be spreading even more filth-bred infections in dirty hospitals. Fortunately, I am out of it (and have been since before the smoking ban) with no intention to return permanently. UK Government now is all about demonstrating control over the law-abiding because the real criminals are beyond control. I appreciate that there are health concerns in relation to over-indulgence in tobacco, but the same goes for anything: too much sugar, salt, even too much exercise. Howover, it is unthinkable that they would ever ban alcohol consumption outside one's own home but I have never come across a heavy smoker who has gone out of control in his car and killed innocent people. But that's the tax again together with the big, well represented interests of the brewers and distillers. Absolutely no reason why there could not have just been the introduction, across the board, of smoking and no- smoking areas and rooms, especially in private clubs. As to the argument that it's all to do with protecting workers' rights - if bar staff don't like smoke-filled bars, find another job or go back to the surfing beaches, I say. Interesting to reflect that Blair and his Babes managed to impose an act of oppression, by banning smoking, that even Himmler (with his influence, personal aversion, not to mention his well-known care for the health of the nation), failed to achieve.
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