Thursday
Mar052015
Is this why our PR PM rolled over?
Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 19:39 Could this be true?
Via a well-connected MP and an intermediary I've heard that David Cameron was told by an anti-smoking group that if he didn't introduce plain packaging before the election he'd be followed throughout the campaign by a man dressed as a cigarette.
Needless to say, instead of telling the public health bullies to f-off, our PR PM rolled over. Again.
You couldn't make it up.
Reader Comments (4)
Sadly, on the basis of probability, I am inclined to believe that this is likely to be true. Even if it isn't, the fact that it seems remotely credible is a damning indictment of the appalling state of our society and the stature of the people who allegedly run it.
It is pitiful that Cameron has caved in to an increasingly ridiculous and extreme minority. Whatever his reasons, there should be no excuses.
Heaven knows what the likes of Churchill would make of such spineless attempts to appease the unappeasable. I suspect that even Gordon Brown would have had the personal strength to tell these people to f*** off on behalf of the British people. He didn't have a lot of time for the MUP alcohol haters and, for all his faults, has more backbone than Cameron.
It just shows how out of touch our senior politicians actually are. He clearly doesn't know how thoroughly fed up everyone, both smokers and non-smokers, are with all the puritan groups these days, now that anti-smoking has blazed the trail for countless other little copycat groups to try and elbow their way to the fore with their own pet peeves.
Maybe the anti-smoking activists would have tried to pull this stunt, maybe they wouldn't, but either way he'd have won out if he'd stood up to them. If they didn't do it, then he would have called them on an empty threat and won (always a good thing for people to see MPs doing); if they did do it, then they would have succeeded only in making themselves look just like the single-issue swivel-eyed zealots they are, made pretty much the whole electorate roll their eyes with boredom at such a silly gimmick, and would switch them off even further from the whole anti-smoking message, which has, quite frankly, become such an overweening bore these days - thus assisting him in ignoring them even further. But it would have got him a lot of extra publicity.
Silly man. But then he is just a politician, I guess ...
I for one will never buy another packet of cigarettes in the UK.
This dumb legislation will cost the Treasury billions.
As I have said before, it would be nice to see Forest being a bit more pro-active. So - why not dress up as a cigarette and follow the PM around all campaign on our behalf with the words #WeSmokeWeVote written along it. If it works for the smokerphobic bullies then it should also work for us.
Do not give him or the Labour loving alleged Conservatives an easy time.