No so bright now eh?

The smoking ban has been in for a while now and what a fantastic piece of legislation it has proved to be.











Pubs are smoke free, the air is healthier, my clothes don't stink and drinking establishments are, generally, much more pleasant places to spend time. It also seems that, contrary to what the pro-smoking alliance kept telling us, the pub industry isn't dying - apart from those that were probably on the Grim Reaper's list long before July 1st 2007.

But the smokers still aren't happy. After all, why shouldn't they be allowed to expel hazardous fumes upon people who would rather not breathe them in? Why should they have to go outside in the open air in order to take their pathetic dose of precious, precious nicotine?

Well one Yorkshire publican seemed to disagree with the latest legislation, openly allowing his clientèle to smoke within the four walls of his premises, a fact he admitted live on the BBC Yorkshire regional news.

His argument is that people have a human right to smoke inside a public house.

If said landlord genuinely believes that the "right" to smoke is included in human rights legislation, perhaps he should consider actually reading up on the contents of the European Constitution on Human Rights. Whilst he's at it, he can download a map to the nearest Magistrates.

It's nearly here

What is possibly Labour's only positive contribution to anyone is not far from coming into force.









From July 1st, it will be illegal for the nation's ignorants to shamelessly blow acrid smoke directly into people's faces in pubs, clubs and restaurants - and I can't wait.

To remind us of the fact, we're being told that £30m is being spent on an army of enforcers who will be dishing out £50 to anyone who resembles a chimney after that date. But whilst I fully support the smoking ban, I don't really think that £30m is what is needed to control such measures.

The smoking ban will, by and large, be self policing. With landlords not wanting to risk their license, smokers will quickly find themselves unwelcome in most of the countries establishments. I'd be pretty certain in saying as well that the council chiefs waiting to hand out a plethora of yellow slips of paper won't be venturing out to a local boozer on a working class council estate and instead, they'll be focusing their attention on the already secure bars and clubs in the city centre and student districts, where internal security staff will most likely be on high alert as soon as the clock approaches midnight on June 30th.

Some pubs, I have no doubt, will ignore the ban. There's one I frequent occasionally and I'm confident in claiming that I'm the only non-smoker in their on any given night. The thought of walking into there and finding 100+ 40-a-dayers without a white stick between their fingers just seems too surreal, but we shall wait and see.

All we can do now is look forward to the day. I might even put on of those counter things on here if I can find one.