Outdoor smoking bans? Let battle commence
Monday, February 23, 2015 at 14:29 Following the "voluntary ban" on smoking in Bristol's Millennium Square, which I wrote about here, Nottingham is considering a similar policy in one of the town squares.
What I find interesting is the suggestion that such an illiberal and unreasonable policy could be introduced "if enough people get behind the idea".
How many is "enough"?
With smokers now a fifth of the adult population it doesn't take a brain surgeon to deduce that opinion polls will favour the views of the non-smoking majority most of whom won't care that strongly but, if pushed, will probably opt for a ban.
That alone would justify the term "tyranny of the majority" but my guess is that "enough people" will be tens rather than hundreds or even thousands of people.
In practise "enough people" will probably be a coalition of public health professionals and NGOs augmented by a handful of anti-smoking fanatics and a small child who doesn't like the smell of tobacco smoke.
(I'm not making this up. The Nottingham Post report really did feature a six-year-old girl who doesn't like the smell of smoke.)
As a potential battleground Nottingham is much better than Bristol. Millennium and Anchor squares in Bristol are privately owned and if we're to be consistent we have to accept that private landlords have the right to decide their own policy on smoking, however much we may disagree with it.
Council or government-owned property is different because smokers are taxpayers and that should give them certain rights.
Clearly we've a battle on our hands to stop outdoor smoking bans spreading from town to town but Nottingham is a good place to start.
I know Dick Puddlecote shares my view and since he was the mastermind behind the Stony Stratford rebellion I'm confident we can win this initial skirmish too.
Watch this space.
Update: Hundreds vote against banning smoking in Nottingham's Old Market Square (Nottingham Post).
Update: I'll be discussing a potential ban on BBC Radio Nottingham tomorrow morning. Lead item after 7.00am news bulletin.
Reader Comments (3)
Outdoor smoking bans (at patios, on sidewalks, and public streets and parks) need to be stopped dead in their tracks. There is no no health basis for these bans. They are outright persecution of smokers with the goal of social engineering. The public is not in favor of these, but neither were they in favor of the pub smoking bans--they still aren't. These bans need to rejected.
I think this is a brilliant idea - as long as it only applies to vapers. :D
What is to stop people having a cigarette (unlit) in their mouths in these places? If they are not lit, then the people aren't smoking, though it will no doubt annoy the social engineering nazis.