Diane Abbott wants smoking banned outside Olympic venues
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 14:40 Spent the morning at the House of Commons. Very quiet. MPs are away this week.
Whilst I was there I got a call from London Tonight, ITV's London regional news programme. They wanted a quick response to the 'news' that Labour MP Diane Abbott wants smoking banned in all Olympic parks in 2012. That means indoors and outdoors.
I was interviewed, sitting on a bench, in Victoria Tower Gardens next to the Houses of Parliament. The sun had disappeared and we had to film under a tree to escape the light rain. It was cold, wet and miserable.
I paraphrase. "This isn't China," I said. "Britain isn't a dictatorship. The Olympics should be an opportunity to celebrate Britain as it is, not as politicians would like it to be. Are they going to ban alcohol and people who are overweight as well?"
Update: Olympic smoking ban? (London Tonight). They used a different bit of the interview!
Reader Comments (8)
"Are they going to ban alcohol and people who are overweight as well?"
Well, err, yes, actually, they are.
Will Ms Abbott need an act of Parliament to enforce any such ban? Surely the stadia are public places and smoking has not been banned in OPEN public areas.
Of course they won't ban overweight people from the Olympic Park will they? That would result in Diane Abbot being banned from the City of London altogether!
And then what would she do with the VIP tickets she has undoubtedly managed to trough?
Why didn't Diane Abbott just say, that smokers will not be welcome at the London Olympics?
That is as I understand it.
I seem to remember reading somewhere (unfortunately I can't remember where) that quite a lot of the athletes competing at the Beijing Olympics were smokers. Will they be banned as well, I wonder?
And the health benefits of this silly woman's plan are?
They probably will ban alcohol at all Olympic venues (apart from VIP hospitality areas, of course).
I shouldn't worry, the ITV website and player is such a dog's breakfast no-one outside of London will have seen it.