What happened to common sense?

England looked set to follow Scotland in to a ban on smoking in public places as Cigar Buyer went to press after a major Uturn over the issue.

A free vote in February looked set to call for a complete ban in pubs and restaurants, after the partial ban option was dismissed as unworkable.

The Government had intended to call for a ban in areas where food was served, but there were fears that such a move would be a backward one, forcing many smaller pubs to scrap their food offering and return to ‘wet trade’ only.

Rather than see some of their members put at an economic disadvantage by such a move, large pub pressure groups opted for the ‘united front’ option of one ban for all, effectively ending any resistance to the complete ban option.

At the time of going to press, private and social members’ clubs, which are bound by a unique body of law and which effectively enjoy the status accorded to a private house rather than a public one, were to be exempted from the changes.

But even in this area there were calls for further intervention.

The move to a ban, which gathered speed rapidly during the last 12 months, makes a mockery of the five-year self-regulation process that the hospitality industry had subjected itself to, and fails to take the interests of smokers in to account at all.

On the eve of the vote, Cigar Buyer asked several industry luminaries the following question:

Given Parliament is about to have a free vote on part 1 of the Health Bill, what would your ideal.....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Cigar Buyer to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Smoking Issues

Page number : 6

Published in Cigar Buyer Issue 7 on 10/02/2006.

This article is 78 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.



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	What happened to common sense? England looked set to follow Scotland in to a ban on smoking in public places as Cigar Buyer went to press after a major Uturn over the issue. A free vote in February looked set to call for a complete ban in pubs and restaurants, after the partial ban option was dismissed as unworkable. The Government had intended to call for a ban in areas where food was served, but there were fears that such a move would be a backward one, forcing many smaller pubs to scrap their food offering and return to ‘wet trade’ only. Rather than see some of their members put at an economic disadvantage by such a move, large pub pressure groups opted for the ‘united front’ option of one ban for all, effectively ending any resistance to the complete ban option. At the time of going to press, private and social members’ clubs, which are bound by a unique body of law and which effectively enjoy the status accorded to a private house rather than a public one, were to be exempted from the changes. But even in this area there were calls for further intervention. The move to a ban, which gathered speed rapidly during the last 12 months, makes a mockery of the five-year self-regulation process that the hospitality industry had subjected itself to, and fails to take the interests of smokers in to account at all. On the eve of the vote, Cigar Buyer asked several industry luminaries the following question: Given Parliament is about to have a free vote on part 1 of the Health Bill, what would your ideal..... To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Cigar Buyer to have every issue delivered direct to your door. By Dominic Roskrow Section : Smoking Issues Page number : 6 Published in Cigar Buyer Issue 7 on 10/02/2006. Subscribe Buy this issue More from this issue Preview other issues This article is 78 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements. Copyright Cigar Buyer © 1999-2012. All rights reserved. To use or reproduce part or all of this article please contact us for details of how you can do so legally.