Boisdale Life is a quarterly magazine published by Boisdale Restaurants.
The Winter issue is now available and it includes an article by me. Here’s a taste:
The smoking ban gave the green light to a level of intolerance that has been depressing to behold. Note too how easily people have been persuaded that even the briefest exposure to ‘secondhand’ smoke is a genuine health risk. This has been achieved by a combination of zealots and fanatics working hand-in-hand with a well-funded public health industry that believes the end justifies the means. The ‘smoke free’ legislation is one of the most egregious examples of the nanny – no, make that bully – state. If we don’t take a stand choices that non-smokers hold dear will be threatened too.
It even features a little dig at my fellow writers:
Even contributors to Boisdale Life have bought into [the anti-smoking] myth. At a lunch to mark the magazine’s fifth birthday earlier this year I was disappointed to find little support for amending the legislation. Interestingly that puts them at odds with the general public because even in recent years polls have consistently found a small majority in favour of allowing well-ventilated smoking rooms in pubs and clubs.
Frankly I sensed something that dare not speak its name – snobbery. At Boisdale it’s not enough to have a terrace where people can smoke. It has to be called a ‘Cigar Terrace’. I imagine it’s designed to appeal to a certain demographic that considers cigarettes to be a bit vulgar or second rate.
To download a copy of the article click here. To download a copy of the entire magazine click here.
Hard copies are available at each of the four Boisdale restaurants in Mayfair, Belgravia, the City and Canary Wharf.