Rejoice!

Reports suggest that Brighton and Hove Council has rejected proposals to ban smoking on beaches, parks and squares.

According to Brighton and Hove News, 'Controversial plans to ban smoking on Brighton and Hove’s beaches and in its parks look set to be dropped by the council after a huge public response.'

Fancy that!

Confirmation of the decision is expected when the Council meets next Tuesday.

Rejoice!

See also: Response to Brighton consultation on smoke free areas.

PS. More good news:

Bid to ban smoking in Ayr's street cafes is thrown out by councillors (Daily Record).

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

Excellent news - but after 10 years of continual attacks, discrimination and stigmatisation I need to see it to believe it so I'll rejoice only after the council meeting if it becomes official, ratified and the antis can't have another go at bringing it back next year. They never take no for an answer.

We know anti-smokers pervert democracy to impose their fascism on the rest of us and consultation, as we found out with the plain packs stitch up, doesn't always carry any weight.

You may remember we all rejoiced when the Govt initially announced it wasn't going down that road after consultation only for ASH to tell them to ignore anyone but tax funded smokerphobic orgs and that's what the Govt did before it then went against huge public opposition to the plain packs plan to impose it upon an unwilling public.

[Vinny Gracchus]

Excellent news! Perhaps an indicator that the public is getting tired of draconian smoking bans. Smokers must build from this momentum and widely disseminate the results and advocate for amending the pub ban. Strong political action is necessary because as we know the antismokers keep coming back and vocally spread their propaganda at every turn. It's time to reject smoking bans.

[Misty]

Little snippets like this really do tend to confirm my own feelings that, by and large, most people, including most non-smokers, have (finally, hurrah!) started to see the anti-smoking movement for what it is – nothing short of a bunch of playground bullies in suits who are starting to show their true colours now that they think they have the unswerving support of “the authorities” for everything they do. Outside bans, I think, are “a step too far” for the naturally fair-minded British public – hence the reason why so many of them are now starting to speak up.

The shamelessly copycat tactics of many of the new Puritan movements (anti booze, anti sugar, anti salt etc etc) – sometimes even going so far as to mimic the names of their heroes (Action on Smoking and Health/Action on Sugar etc), or to go to great lengths to shoehorn in some reference to tobacco somewhere in their campaigning (“the new tobacco,” “as bad as tobacco,” “should be treated like tobacco,” “xxx worked for tobacco, and so should work for xxx” etc), as if that’s some kind of trump card, has also helped to highlight to many non-smokers that what we’ve been saying for ages is indeed correct, i.e. that anti-smoking has set a dangerous precedent which is now being copied, textbook-style, by new groups with a particular axe to grind, often in respect of their (non-smokers’) preferred indulgences, be it chips, chocolate or Chardonnay, and that only non-smokers speaking up against the onward march of the leaders of it all, anti-smoking, can stop all of these new groups in their tracks and make them think twice. If they don’t, these new groups will believe that they, too, can achieve the same “success” as has Tobacco Control, and, to be frank, if non-smokers don’t speak up, they’ll probably be right.