Smoking ban round up (pt IV)

Picture Credit Dan Donavan

Shaun Ryder lights up (oh the naughty fellow) at the Manchester Ritz. Yes you know Madchester, happy Mondays, pills, thrills and bellyaches Shaun Ryder.

One concert-goer, who left because of smoke fumes just 40 minutes into the set,
branded Ryder's actions 'a disgrace'.
Alexandra Sneyd, from Wilmslow, said:
"It absolutely ruined my evening and made me so angry - he obviously thinks he's
above the law."

For pities sake, "I went to a boxing match but I left because of all the violence, I want my mummy"
Of course the enforcers are on the act

"Greater Manchester's anti-smoking 'tsar' Pat Karney said: "No matter how big he thinks he is he is not above the law. The Ritz will be getting a visit from environmental health."

He is joined by Courtney Love

" Love declares smoking ban 'retarded'
The recently introduced smoking ban is not going down well with committed smoker Courtney Love. The rocker, who tried out some of her new material at a gig in west London for an audience of competition winners and close friends, ranted about the new measure on stage.
Love said: "The only place I can smoke in England is the Houses of Parliament! That's so retarded!"

In Dorset, (Hurrah) smokers have taken to direct action,

In Stoke the Council screwed up royally making their attempts to fine people illegal.

In Newcastle under Lyme things are not working out quite as planned for one non smoker

Harriet Fischer, aged 19, of Weston, near Crewe, said: "It's a lot better. I couldn't stand all the smoke."

One-by-one smokers go outside for a drink, and on some occasions leave the lone non-smoker on their own."I'm being dragged outside anyway," said Harriet.

Elsewhere the producers of Big Brother have had a visit from the narks

Big Brother producers received a visit from environmental health officers - to ensure that housemates were complying with the new smoking ban.

The Bootham Tavern in York - an old favourite of mine, has been badly hit

A PUB landlord today said many of his longest-serving customers had been driven
away by the smoking ban.
Martin Hagan, of the Bootham Tavern, York, said people who used to come in everyday were now going elsewhere to drink, because he had been unable to provide a smoking-area.

Bristol has 21 narks, all on patrol,

And finally, possibly the worst argument I have heard in favour of the ban, no doubt specially designed for the Daily Mail, so bad indeed I'm copying it in full

The ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces recently introduced in England
could potentially give would-be first time buyers a better chance of getting on
the property ladder, it has been claimed.Simply by quitting their unhealthy habit, the typical British smoker could save themselves close to £1,300 per year and this money would put prospective homebuyers on their way to a housing deposit, according to Abbey.

And for a cigarette-smoking couple the figure reaches £2,576 worth of savings in a year if they quit, which could be a very useful sum given that the cost of moving into a new home for the average first time buyer in the UK amounts to £5,280.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of mortgages at Abbey, said: "With the smoking ban here to stay it really is the ideal opportunity to save up some hard cash for a first home. "So, it's time for all those first time buyers that told us they'd quit cigarettes to get on the housing ladder, to put their money where their mouth, or should I say their cigarette, is."

A survey carried out by National Savings & Investments recently found that 24 per cent of British consumers do not worry about the money they spend based on the assumption that they will earn more later in life.