Smoking ban poses problems for pubs-6000 may close

Smoking ban poses problems for pubs-6000 may close

MORE than 6,000 British pubs may be forced to close in the next five years thanks largely to the smoking ban, accountants and business advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) warned yesterday.

A PwC report published a year after the introduction of the ban on lighting up in a public place shows the impact it is having on the UK’s licensed premises.

PwC partner Michael Jervis said: “The rate of pub closures has accelerated - we now expect to see 6,000 pubs closing by 2012.

The majority of pubs suffering distress are community pubs." The prediction comes as a warning that businesses need to assess the impact the smoking ban is having on their pubs in order to adjust.

For many traditional pubs, the ban on smoking has coincided with a time of economic decline, meaning many consumers opt for pub chains, providing cheaper alternatives.

The wet English summers have also deterred smoking customers, now forced to light up outdoors. Besides the shocking predictions about pub closures, the report also offers crucial advice to many pubs around the UK, struggling to adjust to the huge impact the smoking ban has had on their operations.
http://www.cityam.com

Scarborough Landlords counting cost of smoke ban

Scarborough Landlords counting cost of smoke ban

By Susan Stephenson
SCARBOROUGH pub landlords are counting the cost of the smoking ban one year on.
The ruling, which came into force on July 1 last year, banned smoking in all public places and seems to have hit pubs the hardest.

Rising costs, increased Government taxes on beer, wine and spirits and the lack of public spending power due to the ADVERTISEMENT"credit crunch" have also made the past year incredibly tough for landlords.

Scarborough Licensed Victuallers' Association vice-president Matt Coulson, who runs the New Tavern and Tap and Spile in Falsgrave Road, says the ban is "destroying the trade".

He said: "The smoking ban has definitely reduced the amount of customers. Trading figures are down and costs are up – plus customers don't have the money to spend. Landlords have faced the expense of creating outdoor smoking areas along with all the other rising costs. Pubs are closing all the time and to my mind that will continue.

"It feels like we're under continuous attack from the powers that be."

Terry Kaye, landlord of The Commercial, also in Falsgrave, and former landlord of the Northway, in Prospect Road, said: "The smoking ban has not done me any favours at all."

However, health bosses have described the ban as "a great success", with a 33 per cent increase in people quitting cigarettes since this time last year.

The NHS in Yorkshire and the Humber says it is ahead of schedule in reaching its target of 38,000 quitters by the end of the year.

Paul Johnstone, NHS Yorkshire and Humber's director of public health, said: "On average a smoker's life is 14 years' shorter than a non-smoker. This means the smoke-free legislation may have helped to save 80,000 years of life in our region."

But people in Scarborough are still buying as many cigarettes as ever, says newsagent Graham Whitewick, who runs a shop in Huntriss Row.

He said: "Sales of packets of cigarettes are the same as they were this time last year. We've found loose tobacco sales have been down for a number of years, since people started bringing cheaper cigarettes back from holidays abroad."
http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk

Some landlords are ignoring the smoking ban in pubs

Some landlords are ignoring the smoking ban in pubs

30 June 2008
By Rachel Dearden
A year on from the new smoking laws and some rebel publicans are still flouting the ban behind closed doors in Lancashire.
It is midnight in a pub on the outskirts of town. Most of the drinkers have gone home. Music is playing in the background as the landlord pulls a pint of bitter. The doors shut half an hour ago but a handful of regulars remain.

The landlord knows them all by name and the barman knows their order.

A woman in her 20s lights a cigarette as she sits at the bar, calling in for a quiet drink on her way home from her job as a care assistant.

This is how pubs used to be but since the smoking legislation came into force one year ago tomorrow it is against the law.

Across the city, pubs like this are closing their doors, crippled by the effects of the ban and the cheap supermarket drinks prices.

Landlords are fighting to keep their head above water faced with a choice between bending the rules or going out of business.

Before long the traditional community pub could be a thing of the past.
One landlord, who allows his customers to smoke after hours, says: "I would say at least half of pubs like this are doing what we do.

"They have to. They're struggling as it is.

"They're not going to kick themselves into touch for the sake of a stupid rule.

"They're hanging on by their fingernails.

"If you stuck to the rules you wouldn't have a business.

"We can't compete with either the off-trade or the big boys up town.

"I don't like the word business – I run a pub.

"They are banning something that is a lawful act and it goes against the grain.

"I find it objectionable to have to stand outside my own pub to have a cigarette."
http://www.lep.co.uk

Trade down at half of pubs in first year of smoking ban

Trade down at half of pubs in first year of smoking ban
26 June, 2008

By James Wilmore

But respondents in Publican survey say credit crunch is to blame

Exclusive research has revealed that more than half of licensees have seen trade drop since the smoking ban was introduced throughout the UK.

July 1 is the anniversary of the ban being introduced in England and to mark the occasion The Publican commissioned CGA Strategy to quiz 1,500 licensees about their experiences over the last 12 months.

The exhaustive survey of a cross section of the industry reveals the real picture of the smoking ban on pubs.

Results show that while 52 per cent of licensees have reported a drop in trade in that time the majority pinpoint the credit crunch - rather than the smoking ban - as being the main reason for such a bleak year.

Meanwhile 38 per cent of respondents said sales remained the same and only 10 per cent said business was up.

A fifth of those who saw trade drop reported a fall of up to 30 per cent.

“No-one wants to stand outside in the cold and the rain,” said one licensee who has seen sales plummet.


The smoking legislation was second out of the reasons for a fall in trade, followed by budget hikes on alcohol tax, the rising cost of raw materials and last summer’s poor weather.

Of these, many had seen a drop off in business during the week and relied on weekends to carry them through.

Councils were also blamed for refusing permission for outdoor facilities.

For the minority that have seen sales increase, food was attributed as the main reason. The research also found that pubs that have stepped up their food offer have seen dry sales overtake wet.

Families also appear to be playing a part in helping some licensees weather the storm. One respondent said: “What we have lost in smokers we have gained in families.”

And despite the doom and gloom, the licensees polled were looking forward to a good summer and some have already seen trade pick up due to better weather.

Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), said although the results were expected it is important for the trade to “promote the positive”. But he warned: “The things we have to look out for are issues such as noise and litter and also the anti-smoking brigade looking to push the ban out into the open air.”
http://www.thepublican.com

Ban hits pub operators: half see profits dip 6%

Ban hits pub operators: half see profits dip 6%

Written by: John Harrington
The damaging impact of the smoking ban one year on is laid bare in a survey of Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) members, exclusively for the MA.

The survey of 14 companies — operating more than 1,300 pubs between them — found 36% saw sales fall more than 6% since the ban. Half said profits have fallen more than 6%.

Wet sales and AWP income has been hit the worst as many traditional beer-drinking, machine-playing customers stay away.

A total of 43% of operators said wet sales fell more than 6%, while 36% saw a decline of 1% to 5%.

More than two thirds — 71% — of companies saw machine income fall 6% or more.

“The Government needs to realise that pubs are having a difficult time after the smoking ban,” said ALMR chief executive Nick Bish.

But there is some positive news from the survey, with 29% of firms saying food sales are up more than 6% since the ban.

Bish added: “Food-led pubs are stable or showing marginal improvement as people stay longer, and the family trade has probably gone up.”

In addition, 57% said staff find working in a smoke-free environment “a major benefit”.

The survey shows the level of investment made for the ban.

More than one third (36%) spent £2,001 to £5,000 per site on shelters and other improvements, 29% spent more than £5,000. A smaller proportion, 14%, spent £1,001 to £2,000. The same proportion spent nothing, and 7% spent less than £1,000.
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk

Smoking ban 'could kill off Amsterdam cannabis coffee shops'

Smoking ban 'could kill off Amsterdam cannabis coffee shops'
By John Bingham

Amsterdam's controversial cannabis cafes are facing possible extinction when a smoking ban comes into force next month.
Smoking ban 'could kill off Amsterdam cannabis cafes'

New laws similar to those which took effect in England last summer, will ban the smoking of tobacco - but not cannabis - in enclosed public places in the Netherlands from July 1.

Critics say the change will encourage users to turn to much stronger forms of the drug.

Users will still be able to light up joints filled with pure cannabis but technically banned from mixing in tobacco.
The owners of the country's "coffee shops", where cannabis is available over the counter, campaigned for an exception.

But the Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende was quoted last week as explaining: "Coffee shops will be treated in the same manner as other catering businesses.

"It would have been wrong to move towards a smoke-free catering industry and then make an exception for coffee shops. People would not have understood that."

Some cafes have built separate areas for those who chose not to inhale pure cannabis in the same way as pubs and restaurants in Britain set up outdoor smoking sections in the run-up to the ban in this country.

Many Amsterdam cafe owners fear being driven out of business. But Mark Jacobsen of BCD, a cafe traders' association, told the German newspaper Der Spiegel: "If an official comes into a coffee shop and sees someone smoking a joint, he must confiscate it and send it to a lab to test whether it contains tobacco.

"It is such an arduous procedure that it is going to create numerous problems.

"I don't think they will apply it very strictly during the first year."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Triple blow sees Gala call time on Birmingham bingo hall

Triple blow sees Gala call time on Birmingham bingo hall
Anna Blackaby
A Birmingham bingo hall is set to close next week, hit by a triple blow from the smoking ban, increased taxation and new gambling laws banning big jackpot machines.

Seventeen jobs will go at the Gala Bingo club in Great Barr, which is set to close its doors to players on June 23.

The club owner, Gala Coral, is currently in consultation with employees to discuss relocating staff to neighbouring clubs in the area.

Gala Coral said external factors were behind the closure, citing the smoking ban, the scrapping of big jackpot gaming machines and the Chancellor’s decision not to relieve the industry of double taxation.

Gala, which is mainly owned by private equity firms Candover, Cinven and Permira, is one of the UK’s biggest operators of licensed betting shops, bingo halls and casinos.

The smoking ban has hit bingo halls harder than other leisure industries as a disproportionately high number of bingo players are smokers.

In September last year, the government closed a loophole in gambling legislation that had allowed £500 jackpots machines – called Section 21 machines – to proliferate in bingo halls.

Gala, like other bingo hall operators, was forced to remove the big jackpot machines under the new Gambling Act.

Bingo Association communications manager Steve Baldwin said: “No other sector in gambling saw its entitlement to machines reduce, some sectors saw their entitlement to machines increase.”

The bingo industry has also suffered from tax laws meaning bingo companies, unlike other gambling sectors, pay Gross Profits Tax as well as VAT.

Calls from the bingo industry for the government to scrap VAT on bingo products went unheeded in the Chancellor’s Spring budget.

Bingo Association chief executive, Paul Talboys called the move “a slap in the face for bingo players across the country.”

SVG Capital, an investor in Gala Coral co-owner Permira, said in March that Gala Coral had almost halved in value in the preceding year.

Mr Baldwin said: “The industry has seen a significant number of clubs close – 37 in 2007 and more have closed this year.
“Jobs are being lost and communities are losing a key social service. “

Bingo is an important social facility, not just a business.”

* Bingo is one of the UK’s most popular leisure activities – more than 8.5 million people played bingo last year and 17,000 people are employed in the sector.
http://www.birminghampost.net

People giving up going to the pub but not smoking

People giving up going to the pub but not smoking

By Roger Bleasdale
SIX months on from my original rant about the smoking ban, I am pleased to report that since then many locals have at last managed to kick the habit of lifetime.
For these days, rather than enjoy an hour of an evening introducing the back of their neck to a pint, whilst enjoying a calming cigarette down at the local, today they huddle up at home in front of the goggle box.

On the plus side, this does mean ADVERTISEMENTthat families spend much more time together, albeit in a cloud of fag smoke, whilst assessing the dubious talents on screen in the latest reality show.

And whilst sitting there, why not have a few cans of the Bavarian Beer picked up at the local supermarket for only a fiver for a dozen?

And so the happy bands of smokers that gathered upon the footpaths of the port back in July last year are no more. The problem is that they are no longer inside the pub either.

Economically, the ban has obviously been a great success – that is at least for the smoker. These days he can invest all the money that he would have spent down the pub on cigarettes and tobacco, especially since both became so expensive after the last budget.

But then again he isn't going to pay shop prices is he? For who on earth buys cigarettes and tobacco in England these days?

Today, your smoking sophisticate jets off to the continent and buys stocks to keep him puffing away happily, until the next time he fancies a few more days away in the sunshine.

Thus does the Spanish Chancellor of the Exchequer benefit from our largesse, whilst poor old Mr. Darling thinks that the reduction in revenue has been caused by people stopping smoking!

So after a winter spent dodging around corners in an attempt to dodge the icy blast of a nor' easterly gale, I feel it could be time that I too seriously considered giving up the pub. Maybe I'm missing something and should spend some time watching a disparate group of deluded self promoters all locked together in a single building? But then again I've been watching the Deaduns darts team perform for the better part of two decades, so maybe things will be more normal amongst the denizens of Big Brother 9!

Oh, and I'll be puffing my head off and downing a few Latvian lagers at the same time.

Roger Bleasdale Fleetwood and District Darts League
http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk

Clubland turns on Labour

Clubland turns on Labour
by Mark Ritchie

The government has been accused of “crushing the lifeblood” out of clubland through a string of new laws which are closing light entertainment venues across the UK.
In a damning open letter written by Barry Slasberg - a leading club official and a high-profile member of the Club and Institute Union’s ruling National Executive Committee - minister Gerry Sutcliffe is singled out for criticism.

Sutcliffe, who has held the licensing portfolio since June 2007, is accused of publicly lamenting the legislative decisions that have gone against clubland, but doing little to help the struggling industry.

Since the introduction of the smoking ban, falling attendances at clubs have caused many to close, while other legislative changes, for example the introduction of a new club registration system, are also causing venue administration costs to increase.

“Mr Sutcliffe is the latest in a long line of prominent politicians who have given the highest praise to our movement,” Slasberg writes in his letter to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Non-Profit Making Members’ Clubs.

“He lamented the decisions that have gone against us of late - as indeed all politicians do. They do not seem to understand the devastating cumulative effect of their actions.

“If all individual politicians are telling the truth when they speak to their electorate about the proven facts of the great worth of our clubs, then why is this support not reflected in the decisions they make collectively?”

He warned that clubland - one of the leading employers of light entertainers in the UK - was in “great peril”, before finishing the letter by claiming he had decided to go public “in order to reverse the unendurable and perpetual legislative tirade against us”.

“It is appreciated there are problems outside the domain of the law, but those brought about through legislation are certainly crushing the lifeblood from us,” he added.

Slasberg’s complaints include increasing costs of club registration from £2 annually to “hundreds of pounds a year” and a similar rise in the cost of administration fees. He also accuses the Labour government of going back on a manifesto pledge to exclude private members’ clubs from the smoking ban.

CIU general secretary Kevin Smyth has previously warned that rising beer prices, in part due to government duty increases, are hitting clubland hard. According to Smyth, a combination of this and the smoking ban has made the last year the hardest in his 30-year involvement with the CIU. These problems have had a worrying knock-on effect for performers.

Variety artists speaking at last month’s Equity Annual Representative Conference claimed that work opportunities in pubs and clubs have fallen by as much as 50%.

• Meanwhile, Gorse Hill Working Men’s Club in Swindon has become one of the latest venues offering live entertainment to close. The club, which boasted a fully sprung dance floor, has been forced to shut its doors after going into administration.
http://www.thestage.co.uk

Will Germany's Constitutional Court Overturn Smoking Ban?

Will Germany's Constitutional Court Overturn Smoking Ban?
By Dietmar Hipp

Germany's Constitutional Court is due to consider this week three complaints put forward against the country's smoking ban by bar owners. The court may well rule that smoking should once again be allowed in small bars and discos.

The walls are covered with posters of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Johnny Cash, the ads are for whisky, vodka and tequila, the music coming from the loudspeakers is by Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull and Blue Öyster Cult, and clouds of cigarette smoke float through the room.


Sylvia Thimm, 45, has been the owner of Doors, a bar in Berlin's fashionable Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, for the past six years. She is proud of her dimly lit haven. "I'm not just selling beer here," she says. "I'm selling an attitude to life."

But Thimm fears that all of that could soon end. Seventy percent of her patrons are smokers, and in Berlin, smoking is banned (more...) in all bars that have no separate room for smokers. Thimm is still allowing smokers to enjoy their habit in her 34-square-meter (366-square-foot) bar, and fines are not yet being handed out to violators in Berlin. But all of that will change on July 1, when the grace period for enforcement of the city's new anti-smoking law comes to an end.

Many of her patrons have indicated that if they aren't even allowed to smoke at Doors, they'll stay at home or go someplace else. Thimm still doesn't know what she'll do when that happens. "Then I'll have to come up with a Plan B," she says. "I'll probably have to look for a different job."

But because she likes her current occupation, Thimm has taken it upon herself to challenge Berlin's smoking ban before Germany's Federal Constitutional Court. The court's decision could prove to be the salvation of Thimm's pub. This Wednesday, the justices in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe will hear three out of roughly 30 pending constitutional complaints regarding smoking bans. Silvia Thimm's is one of them.

Hans-Jürgen Papier, the Constitutional Court's chief justice, recently indicated that the public can expect, by early August at the latest, a substantial ruling that will "fairly comprehensively clarify" the issues that have been raised. The intention is to provide legal certainty throughout Germany.

This is what happens when Germany's 16 federal states impose socially controversial rules on issues ranging from regulations on attack dogs to university tuition and now smoking bans. Almost every state decides on its own individual solution to the issue so that, in the end, it is left up to the Constitutional Court to establish a modicum of legal uniformity and clarity.

There are already strong indications that smoking bans which make no exceptions for single-room bars and clubs will hardly stand up to the Karlsruhe court's scrutiny. The justices certainly must have their reasons for having requested roughly 50 position statements from state governments and state parliaments, and from consumer, industry and health organizations. Moreover, it is surely no coincidence that the court has selected three complaints that are all directed against the absence of exceptions to smoking bans.

In most states except Bavaria, bar and restaurant owners with multiple rooms in their establishments can declare one room a smoking area. In principle, however, bars with only one room must ban smoking completely in their interior.

Forcing her patrons to smoke outside is not a solution for Thimm. Her bar is busy from 8 p.m. until the early morning hours, or until her last guests decide to go home. "If they start smoking outside after 11 p.m., the neighbors will protest."

Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood is becoming increasingly gentrified, which is bad news for some long-established nightspots. "Bars that have been around for more than 20 years are now closing their doors," says Thimm, who grew up in the area when it was still part of the capital of East Germany. According to Thimm, the smoking ban is the "nail in the coffin" for the traditional bars that have managed to stay afloat until now.

Cash-Flow Problems

Uli Neu owns Pfauen, a bar in the historic center of Tübingen, a university town near Stuttgart. His complaint is another of the three selected by the Constitutional Court. He has been struggling with the effects of the smoking ban for almost a year now. When the ban was passed in his state, Baden-Württemberg, Neu's turnover dropped by some 30 percent. "It happened abruptly on Aug. 1," he says, adding that he barely manages to survive today. He says that the only reason he is able to keep the bar open is that his landlord "doesn't come knocking on my door the minute I run into cash-flow problems."

According to the results of surveys of their membership conducted by the German Association of Hotels and Restaurants (DEHOGA), Neu's dilemma is not an isolated case. One-fifth of all bar and restaurant owners nationwide complain that their sales have declined by 20 percent or more since smoking bans were introduced.

In the state of Hesse, for example, single-room establishments suffered an average 31-percent decline in sales, while one in five have lost at least 50 percent of their business. In the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, more than half of all owners of small bars and restaurants are worried about their ability to stay in business. In response to an inquiry from the Constitutional Court, the Federal Office of Statistics found that although "establishments primarily selling beverages" also saw declines in sales in late 2007 in states that had no smoking bans at the time, they were not as substantial as the drop in sales in states with bans.

Neu has been running his bar, popular with students and Tübingen locals, for the past 23 years. Pfauen is open seven days a week, and Neu spends 60 hours a week working there, either behind the bar or in the kitchen, where he prepares stews and the Alsatian pizza known as Flammkuchen to serve as bar food. In the past, Neu hired students to help out in the bar every day, but he has had to reduce his employees' total weekly hours from 80 to 40. He now runs the bar on his own from Sundays to Wednesdays.

Ironically, Neu had a relatively powerful ventilation system installed in his bar 10 years ago. Nowadays his sales suffer because guests are constantly going outside to smoke. "And if they're standing outside," says Neu, "they're not drinking beer." Unlike some other bar and restaurant owners in Tübingen, Neu doesn't turn a blind eye to regulars breaking the rules. "I may be filing a complaint against the law," he says. "But as long as it's in effect I'm going to abide by it."

The third case coming before the Constitutional Court relates to Musikpark, a discotheque in the city of Heilbronn north of Stuttgart, where the smoking ban seems especially absurd.

In four states -- Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt -- patrons of a discotheque wishing to smoke are required to go outside even if the club has several rooms. In those states, bars and restaurants are permitted to have designated smoking areas, but discotheques are not.
Paradoxically, large discos like Musikpark are ideally suited for having separate smoking areas. At Musikpark, a glass-walled lounge above the main dancefloor is already practically hermetically sealed. Nonsmokers would not even have to walk through smoky rooms, and smokers could keep an eye on the nonsmoking section at all times.

Wolfgang Wirsing, Musikpark's manager, has trouble understanding the peculiar exception for discotheques. "They even allow smoking in beer tents, where there are kids and there is absolutely no ventilation."

Musikpark, on the other hand, doesn't allow anyone under 18 to walk in the door, and the club's ventilation system is twice as powerful as required by law for discos. The entire interior air can be replaced about 15 times an hour. "If we turn up the ventilation system all the way," says Wirsing, pointing to the artificial fog in the middle of the dance floor, "that'll be gone in 20 seconds."
oday 04:13 am
By Subverted
Since last fall, the club, which Wirsing describes as a "total nighttime experience," has seen only 1,500 people come through its doors on a typical weekend instead of the usual 2,200. Turnover has dropped by about 30 percent as a result.

The dance club is no longer open on Thursdays, except during holiday periods, and on Fridays and Saturdays two rooms are now closed. Ten full-time employees have been let go. They now work for the club on a part-time basis.

Wirsing and his business partners operate more than 40 discotheques throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which generate total annual sales of about €40 million ($63 million). In those discos with inside smoking sections, says Wirsing, sales have declined by no more than 20 percent.

Oddly enough, Wirsing's smallest establishment, a club in the Bavarian town of Moosburg an der Isar, is now one of his most successful. Thanks to a special provision of Bavaria's anti-smoking law, the disco is now an official smokers' club, with more than 6,000 registered members. The disco in Heilbronn, on the other hand, is already "on shaky ground," says Wirsing.

The justices in Karlsruhe have already shown that they have special reservations about a general smoking ban in discotheques. For example, they want the state of Baden-Württemberg to explain why there is no exception for discos that do not allow patrons under 18 through their doors. They also want to know whether the state can provide them with information on why it ought not to be possible to completely seal off smoking rooms from other rooms in discotheques, especially since this does not appear to present a problem in bars and restaurants. So far the attorneys for the state government have been elusive in responding to the court's requests.

In the end, Baden-Württemberg officials will have trouble coming up with convincing answers to the high court's questions. Club manager Wirsing says that he can demonstrate that dance clubs elsewhere have not had any problems with separate smoking sections. In the disco he runs in the eastern city of Erfurt, for example, he plans to install a comfortable smoking lounge in July, when the state's smoking ban takes effect. The owner of the building, and Wirsing's landlord, is the state of Thuringia.
http://www.spiegel.de

Smokers should ‘wear a jumper’

Smokers should ‘wear a jumper’

OLDHAM’S Environment Minister proved he is always on the look out to save the planet.

Phil Woolas warned the Commons Environment committee that there had been a tenfold increase in patio heaters at licensed premises since the smoking ban came into force.

And the eco-friendly Oldham East and Saddleworth MP suggested smokers could wear a jumper when going outside to light-up.

He told an amused committee: “The official line to take when outside is wear a jumper.”

He made the comments when giving evidence to the committee about Britain’s housing plans.

Housing Minister Caroline Flint told the committee that, despite the current fall in house prices, it would be unwise to revise the targets as the underlying need would not go away.

She said: “In the current climate we expect fewer to be built than last year ....these targets are challenging but long-term need will not change.”
http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk

NEVER LOST FOR WORDS: Protecting kids is feeble excuse for smoke ban

NEVER LOST FOR WORDS: Protecting kids is feeble excuse for smoke ban

Babies are put at risk by smokers - allegedly
by Sam Clarke

MUMMY wears a pinny with a pretty pair of Marigolds tucked into the waistband. She gets up at 6.30am every day to cook Daddy's breakfast before he goes off to do important work. He wears a nice crisp suit with a shirt washed and ironed freshly by Mummy the night before.

He polishes his own shoes, though.

Mummy kisses him fondly on the cheek at the front door and turns her attention to the children who have wakened and are already preparing themselves for school having brushed their teeth and combed their hair.

Recognise the scene? Thought not.

It only happens in one corner of Scotland: Shangri-Lanarkshire, world-renowned for its marital bliss, perfect parenting and angelic kids.

And to maintain those high standards South Lanarkshire Council is about to deny a group of wannabe parents the chance of adopting children . . . and with good reason.

Potential child abusers? Certainly not, in fact quite the opposite. They adore children but, through a cruel quirk, nature has denied them the chance to conceive.

They might drink alcohol, eat raw cholesterol, wash it down with liquid sugar and just possibly be the most-stupid people on earth, but none of that matters to the local authority's politically-correct-to-the-point-of-fascist social-workers.

They are about to slap a ban - rubber-stamped by woolly-minded councillors taking the easy way out - on children being adopted by smokers.

I had always been under the impression that adoption was about finding good, stable, loving homes where couples would cherish children abandoned by their natural parents.

The kind of place where early mornings are chaos, the closest Mummy comes to a marigold is pushing the lawn mower and Daddy wouldn't know a tin of boot polish from a black pudding.

In short: a normal household with fall-outs and fall-ins, praise and punishment, retribution and reward. A sound, healthy and occasionally anarchic environment.

Shangri-Lanarkshire's bleeding hearts argue they are out to protect children from the terrible effects of passive smoking but that is a feeble excuse for rejection.

One adoption charity claims 17,000 under-fives are admitted to hospital each year with passive smoking-related illnesses, though fail to back it up with sound science - rather like me claiming that staying smoke-free guarantees a cancer-free life.

Sounds good . . . but doesn't make it true.

Were officials really so concerned about health, no child would ever be pushed in a buggy at car exhaust height, let alone be allowed to travel in one.

Diet would form part of the adoption contract: no naughty E' numbers or health destroying junk foods.

Schools would be a no-no lest the child be stabbed, become a ned or run the gauntlet of perverts lurking in every hedge.

Social workers have deliberately fudged the difference between minimising risk and eliminating it altogether while branding smokers bad parents.

Now pass the heroin and hand me a pen, there's a form to fill in.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk

Community clubs need help after smoking ban

Community clubs need help after smoking ban
I would like to reply to the article "Labour Club receives council cash" (WEP, May 22).
As a local election candidate for Standish ward in the recent local elections, I campaigned for help for the community clubs and pubs in the area.
I did not have taxpayers' money in mind, but intended to put a robust opposition forward opposing the ludicrous blanket smoking ban which is crippling our leisure industry nationwide.
The EU-wide ban is gold plated by UK civil servants but continental countries have acquired opt-outs which allows smokers to smoke in pubs allocated with ceiling ventilation.
Also pubs and clubs have to pay much higher utility bills and beer prices than their continental counterparts and with supermarkets heavily discounting drinks.
All this means of course is that these outlets will not have much cash for repairs and maintenance.
As for ex councillor George Davies allocating taxpayers' cash to help vandalised Standish Labour Club, well I would agree with this if it was not used for political purposes, because I do believe Standish Labour Club is a genuine community asset.
These clubs organise Christmas parties for pensioners and days out at the seaside for the kids.
Whether they are Tory or Labour clubs, politicians should make more noise concerning excessive charging for energy, uneven playing fields in the sale of alcohol and a campaign for proper smoking areas indoors with ventilation.
Alan Freeman, UKIP, Wigan
http://www.wigantoday.net

Venue closes because of smoking ban

Venue closes because of smoking ban
By Emily-Ann Elliott

A venue has been forced to close its doors after business slumped following the introduction of the smoking ban.

Pressure Point, in Richmond Place, Brighton, is now in the process of being sold and it is unclear whether its new owner plans to reopen it as a bar or club.

Gareth Gwynne-Smith, the venue's current owner, said: "When the smoking ban was first introduced in July it was fine, but once the weather got bad we took a significant drop in trade of about 60 per cent.
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"In February trade picked back up once people got used to it but we had lost about £60,000 between November and January and just couldn't continue."

Mr Gwynne-Smith will now focus on running his events production company NGP Events Ltd, which is based in Brighton.

He said other factors which contributed to the venue's closure is the price of beer and the amount of other venues in Brighton.

He said: "I put six years hard work in here and I am not going to recoup what I spent on it.

"But there are new pubs and bars opening in Brighton all the time and when that is coupled with the fact that nobody has any money at the moment, it is not good."

The venue's 30 staff are also having to look for new employment.

Pressure Point is not the only venue in the area to close this week.

Barfly, in Gloucester Place, has also shut its doors, although Mama Group Plc, which owns the venue, said the closure is temporary.

Clair Chamberlain, marketing and PR manager for the Mama Group Live Music division, said: "The venue is closing for a refit.

"There are a number of things which need to be dealt with including noise transference.

"As far as I am aware it is going to re-open, although I don't know the timings for that.

"People are working hard to transfer its shows to other venues as I speak."

Danny Horwood, co-director of Harmony in the Community, which puts on a night called Carnivalesque at Barfly on the first Friday of every month, was told on Monday evening about the closure.

He said: "They have tried to help us reprogramme our gig but have said absolutely no to any compensation.

"They have cost us more than £1,000 if not more. All of our banners, flyers and posters now have to be redone.

"The annoying thing is they came in and have taken all the gigs away from Pressure Point, which was a local independent venue which has now ended up shutting down and now they have closed."

Carnivalesque has been running for four months and between 300 and 400 people attended.

This Friday it will be at the former Pressure Point venue from 10pm until it finds a new permanent home.
http://www.theargus.co.uk

Real estate companies making it tougher for smokers in their homes

Real estate companies making it tougher for smokers in their homes
BY XANA O'NEILL AND JORDAN LITE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
They banned smoking in the bars and restaurants - and now they're coming into New Yorkers' homes.

City real estate companies are jumping on the anti-tobacco bandwagon with new policies that prohibit tenants from lighting up behind their own doors.

It's the latest anti-smoking trend to hit the city since Mayor Bloomberg banned lighting up in bars and restaurants five years ago Sunday.

Clare Walsh just moved into a loft rental at 270 Park Ave. South. Its owner, Pan Am Equities, doesn't allow smoking anywhere in its buildings - including inside the apartments of tenants with new leases.

"It has my full support," said Walsh, 52. "Smoking is a particularly unhealthy, unattractive activity."

City health officials do not have specific data on how many residential buildings have official smoking bans, but real estate experts say a national movement has sprung up around creating smoke-free homes.

"We're going with the times, with the city doing the bans with bars," said David Iwanier, Pan Am Equities' vice president. "We are considerate of everybody's needs, as well as [the need to] to compete with the marketplace."

Manhattan real estate manager Jeff Lamb said most of the roughly 30 co-ops and condos he handles have banned smoking or are in the process of adopting no-smoking house rules.

That means the co-op boards can deny new applicants if they're smokers, or require existing owners who smoke to ventilate their apartments or plug holes to protect their neighbors.

The trend began shortly after a Manhattan Civil Court judge ruled in 2006 that secondhand smoke exposure violates residents' warrant of habitability, Lamb said.

The same year, the U.S. surgeon general reported on health effects from secondhand smoke.

"I would think it's going to become more commonplace," said Lamb, president of J&C Lamb Management.

Still, he said, "In one case, the smoking person, being sensitive to these new guidelines, decided to sell her apartment."

Neither federal nor state laws prevent residential buildings from adopting smoke-free policies, said Jim Bergman of the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project.

Audrey Silk, founder of the smokers' rights group NYC Clash, calls the emerging residential policies just the latest in an "incremental attack."

"First, it was planes for two hours, then six hours, then all planes; then half of restaurants, then all restaurants," Silk said. "Now, the home."

On a smaller scale, individual New Yorkers are making their homes smoke-free. Some 75% of New Yorkers say they have no-smoking rules in their homes, up from 65% in 2006, according to a poll conducted by Zogby International for the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City.
http://www.nydailynews.com

Caterpillar's smoking ban

Caterpillar's smoking ban
Caterpillar's smoking ban riles union, which files complaint with the National Labor Relations Board
Associated Press
May 31, 2008

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The United Auto Workers union has filed an unfair-labor-practice complaint against Caterpillar Inc. because of its decision to ban smoking on all of its U.S. properties beginning Sunday.

The union claims the ban goes against guarantees in the Peoria-based manufacturing giant's contract with the UAW, adding that whether workers can smoke should be subjected to collective bargaining.

The dispute over smoking, which the union says has been a contractual privilege for 60 years, has Caterpillar officials worried about a possible strike. However, union bargaining chairman Bill Scott says the UAW is not encouraging any work stoppage over the issue. He noted the union and Caterpillar have a "no strike, no lockout" clause in their contract.

Caterpillar labor relations manager Dan Day said in a statement that the company "cares about the health of its employees and wants to ensure that everyone who works on or visits Caterpillar property has access to the healthiest and safest work environment possible."

Caterpillar announced last fall that it would ban smoking on its campuses, after the state legislature approved a ban on smoking in public places and workplaces. But the company did not set a date for the ban to take effect until May 9.

The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on May 15.

Scott said the complaint was about the right to bargain, not smoking.

He said workers who smoke follow state law by smoking outside and at least 15 feet from doorways.
http://www.chicagotribune.com

Calif. Bill To Ban Smoking In Apartments Advances

Calif. Bill To Ban Smoking In Apartments Advances

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Senate has cleared the way for a law that would ban smoking in apartments statewide.

SB 1598, authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, is aimed at protecting nonsmokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

"This year, consumer protection bills are getting an added emphasis, given the limitations presented by the budget," Padilla told the Los Angeles Times.
Click here to find out more!

The legislation would allow landlords to impose smoking bans in buildings that they own.

Supporters said the legislation will protect children from smokers.

Opponents, including Sen. Dick Ackerman of Irvine, said the bill is unnecessary meddling.

It now heads to the state Assembly for approval.
http://www.knbc.com

THE HERALD'S PLYMOUTH PUB QUESTIONNAIRE

THE HERALD'S PLYMOUTH PUB QUESTIONNAIRE
The face of the British pub is changing. As we approach the first anniversary of the introduction of the smoking ban on July 1, 2007, The Herald has quizzed landlords across the city to find out if the traditional local is at the end of the road. Eleanor Radford reports.

Questions:

1. How's business?


2. Has the smoking ban affected you?

3. Have supermarkets affected you?

4. Do you think the era of the Great British pub is over?

1. THE ADMIRAL MCBRIDE Scott Ledger - Licensee/Landlord

1. "It's been a tough winter, hoping for a good summer. People have less money to spend."

2. "Smoking ban undoubtedly had some impact. There were a few noticeable absences of locals who are heavy smokers.

3."They're staying at home drinking cheap booze from the super markets.

"When people can get cans of beer for less than £1, it's a struggle.

4. "It's not over, but there will be a shake-up. We'll lose a lot of pubs. Traditional boozers are suffering the most. We have to focus on food.

2. THE PLOUGHBOY INN, SALTASH Sheila Lennox-Boyd, Lessee 07808164388, 842861

1. "We're busy-ready for another refurb. With all the development in the area, estates have built up around and it's gone from strength to strength. We did 684 meals on Mothering Sunday.

2. "Not so affected by smoking ban because we have a nice garden and a children's play area.

3. "Prices at supermarkets are killing our trade. The price wars with the supermarkets means that booze is so cheap and accessible for kids. We're in control here in Saltash-We have schemes in place to clamp down on kids, and they are getting caught out. We have many activities for kids to do, so they're not so bored.

4. "It's gone. It's a very sad situation, they're all chains. We are careful with our prices, because we have to be. We have home-made produce, and serve things like liver and mash.

"I've been in the trade for 28 years and it's never been so hard. Our cleaner has got used to cleaning with the lights out because we spend £21,800 a year in electricity. It's so expensive. I've always been proud of our English pubs but the government needs to get a hold of the situation. Our dustbin bills have gone up by £200 a quarter.

"We're victims of rents and overheads.

"We used to run four pubs but had to pull them all into one to afford it.

"We're here for people, like counsellors. can you say the same in the chains? They are full, of student staff who don't care, they have no soul.

"We're here for a cheery word, a pint of ale and a nice meal.

3. BRITANNIA INN, (Wetherspoons) Wolseley Road 607596

Ruth Shift Manager

1. Doing well

2. Not majorly affected business, we're the only pub in the area so not particularly affected.

3. Not really affected

4. "Era of pub is beginning to look like it's over - not like it used to be - summertime isn't so bad because people can sit outside."

4. CHERRY TREE PUBLIC HOUSE 771981

Tracy Burgess, Bar maid

1. Pretty good "Things are picking up. We're getting bands in and focusing on live music to get punters in.

2. "In the winter it affected us, but not now, not really.

4. Regulars are loyal to the Great British pub. Even when they don't like the management!"

5. CORNWALLS GATE, Normandy Way 510902

1. Still quiet - trade dropped off last May - before the smoking ban - there's a change in social habits.

2. No

3. "Yes supermarkets definitely affecting business."

4. "There's going to be a contraction - big changes. The heavy boozing sessions are over, it's a more pleasant environment."

6. CROWN AND COLUMN 562833

1. "Slow, businesses are closing.

"If you don't do food, you're going downhill.

2. Not too much "We have nice, big back garden."

3. Supermarkets are effecting business.

4. "Yep - I'm 52 and I've been drinking since, whatever, you can't just go into pubs and have a good time. Prices, smoking-ban, supermarkets selling cheap drinks.

"We focus on pool tournaments, Sunday lunches, anything to get business in."

7. DRAKES DRUM, Radford Park Road, 402613 Jamie Curle, Manager

1. Business is going well

2. Not affected

3. No affected

4. Focusing on food, music, entertainment.

8. THE FALCON, Melville Road

Tom Stevenson, 569669

1. "Business is going well. Took over pub a year ago. Focusing on food, entertainment, football, music.

2. "Smoking ban slowed things down, but everyone got used to it.

3. Not really affected, lots of locals

4. "Era is definitely not over, but people are focusing on different areas. Lots of smaller pubs closed, but the bigger pubs do better."

9. THE DOLPHIN

Leanne Kelly, Barmaid, 660876

1. Business is going well with the Transat action. We've had Blues, Jazz music and a pianist.

2. Affected a little

3. "No, we're a local pub and always got the locals. Same people coming for years and they're gonna carry on coming. "We've introduced new ales, like Tribute."

4. "No-way"

10 FOXHOUND INN, Brixton

Sharon Martin, Landlady, 880271

1. Not too bad

2. "Changed, more food-lead. Thinking of ideas to keep going.

3. "Supermarkets have definitely affected the industry as a whole.

4. "I hope the era is not over, but it probably is."

11. THE RED LION Paul Deans, manager, 256881

1. "Getting better, we've been here two years, and have been doing it up since Christmas."

2. "Smoking ban has really affected business.. We notice it when it's raining, definitely a lot quieter.

3. "I've been in the trade for donkeys years and noticed the difference last year. Also the tax hikes by the Chancellor. We get through by hard work, and smiles.

"It's just about cracking on and learning to adapt. We have bands and singers, which is going down really well. It's starting to look a lot better."

12. KINGS ARMS, Tamerton Foliot Peter Smith, 773213

1. "There is still the potential in the trade which is being crushed by the big PLC's- Wetherspoons and the like."

"People seem to accept changes. Trade is slightly increasing - not a lot of profit to be made. We made a simple change, we put in a pie and pasty warmer which is going well. We also put on a fillet steak night."

2. "There's a lot of moaning about it (smoking) but not much change.

3. "The supermarkets have been around a long time, people have always gone away to France on booze cruises."

4. "People have always had the choice of cheaper social clubs, but they've always gone back to the pub."

13. EXETER INN, Modbury, Ivybridge. Michelle Hill, Licensee 01548 830 239

1. "doing really well"

2. "Smoking ban hasn't effected us, we have food, live music, a pool room."

3. "Supermarkets may have affected a little."

4. "It's not like it used to be, more food than drink these days. The old men sitting in the corner and drinking, smoking on their pipe - times are changing."

14.LOPES ARMS, Roborough

Katherine Biscombe, Manager (brewery)

1. "Business is ok."

2. "Not really effected, we have a sheltered smoking area."

3. "Trade in general has been hit, it is more unpredictable with more ups and downs. We are a food-lead pub, we have darts teams, pool and live music on Wednesdays."

4. "The era is not over yet."

15. THE FRIENDSHIP INN, Amity Place

Bill Light, Landlord for 12 years 221362

1. "It's been the worst winter since I've been here - people don't want to smoke outside, we have a shelter but the wind blows in."

2. "Supermarkets, offie's, extra bars - over the past five years pubs have closed round here to be replaced with bars, like up on North Hill. Of the 12 years I've been here it's definitely the worst winter, but before was bad too - the community around here has been taken over by students. They have different patterns, they go out a lot later. Trends are changing."

4. "Era not over yet, but not far away."

16. THE CORNWOOD INN, Ivybridge Leaseholder Barbara Williams, 837225

1. "We have been affected by the ban, we have lost, and certainly haven't gained any smokers. It costs money to get a brolly up outside. We are affected by red tape and health and safety

2. "The supermarkets have affected us, if we didn't do food, we wouldn't exist."

4. "The era is definitely over, my biggest gripe is that choice has gone, people and staff smoking should be up to you.

"There were no Tesco's or cars - Your locals used to be your locals, your villagers were your villagers - Real pubs in the country will die out."

"Rates are just so high."

17. THE FORTESCUE, Mutley Plain Sarah Kenny, staff for 10 years 660673

1/2. "Trade is fantastic, but the smoking ban did affect us, people used to stay for three or four pints, now they have two and go. The atmosphere is different, people are up and down to the beer garden to smoke, conversation gets missed - it's disjointed."

3. "Well we have a lot of real ale drinkers, out the barrel." (can't get that at supermarket)

4. "The era is over which is very sad, peoples habits have been forced to change, for example with the smoking ban."

18. THE MARITIME INN, Southside St Rosamund Davies, 664898

1/2. "We have been 40% down since the smoking ban, it wasn't even a bad winter for weather, it's lovely weather but where do the non-smokers go for fresh air? All the smokers are outside - the ban was for the non-smokers, but where are they? If we are 40% down then we haven't gained any non-smokers.

"The butts are now a massive litter problem"

"Most bar staff are smokers, so we end up paying for smoking breaks all day. We think it should have been made law that really good air filter systems were fitted for fresh air in the pub.

3. "Cheap booze definitely affects us. The supermarkets supply the cheap booze but we get the blame for the boozers, it's a major problem with the youngsters. Too many outlets that sell booze 24 hours, but pubs don't. There's too much irresponsible selling of booze."

4. "There are 91 pubs in Plymouth up for sale, or not in use. I read that Wetherspoons are £400 million in debt. If they can't make it, nobody can."

"I hope the era isn't over, but unless somebody sits down and talks to the trades people to find out what the people want, for example rules that say pubs can be half smoking and half non-smoking with really good extractors. "The Brit pub is a tradition, who was the ban done for? The non-smokers are still not here.

19. THE CROOKED INN, Saltash

Justin Arnold, Landlord, 20years.

1. "We have been affected by smoking ban."

2. No

3. "We are busy, it's going ok, we do food and accommodation."

4. "No, era isn't over but the breweries screw over the pubs. Free-holds do ok

"People who take leases have no chance, breweries put rent up, they are evil. Their profits are massive, food is the way forward."

20. THE SWALLOW, Bretonside

Colin Damp, Landlord, 18 years

1. "Business is down 20%, that's' £5,000 a week. I'm surviving by the skin of my teeth and have been struggling in the past five years to keep within my overdraft which is in five figures."

2. "We have no capacity for smoking, there's been a downward slump since July and we've had to cut staff."

3. "The 24 hour rule and supermarkets affect us. We used to be busy at nine, now its ten, because people are drinking cheap tinnies at home. There has been a shift in drinking patterns."

4. "Chains are shutting down so perhaps there is hope for independents, we pay more to the supplier than the chains charge."

21. THE PRINCE MAURICE, Eggbuckland Rick Doggs, 771515

"Anyone who tells you they are not affected by all these things are telling porky pies."

22. KINGS HEAD TAVERN, Bretonside 665619

"We are affected by all these things."

23. THE NOWHERE INN

Phil Cawse, Licensee 670592

1.(general chat about all points) "Pubs are closing left, right and centre. It is a combination lots of things, We are £500 down a week, definitely for the last six months.

"We are lucky as we have loyal customers, we're a real pub with real ales, no machines and no TV.

"Pubs need to diversify, but they need help of big the breweries, to help reduce rent.

"Where pubs used to be a meeting place, this is not the case anymore, it's not so much fun. There is no pride left, it's turned to being all about the money.

"People are scared because of the violence and intimidation of thugs. You don't get old people out in pubs anymore, like you don't get old people going out for a walk at night time. It's a social disease.

3. "The supermarkets are not affecting trade, but are causing problems. Booze is too easy to obtain with youngans.

"I can't compete with Sainsburys, they're selling booze cheaper than I can buy it." "We need help."

"Breweries selling for so much, no-one can buy elsewhere.

"20 pubs have closed since January. The Mutley Tavern, a lovely pub, The First and Last, The Walrus, they've all shut."

24. THE OLD FRIARY, Bretonside.

672921 Dave Northcott, Landlord

1. "We're doing alright, we get a lot of local trade."

2. "Smoking ban has affected us a lot. A lot of the regulars - you don't see them half as much.

3. "People go down the supermarket, buy all the cans for a tenner and sit and smoke at home.

We have food and live music at the weekends - to keep trade going."

4. "The era has definitely changed, and not for the better - the smoking is the main problem, there's definitely a younger crowd. Students come out a lot later."

25. The Mark of Friendship, Torpoint

Jenny Brazier, has run pub for seven years 822253

1. "slow"

2. "The ban is probably affecting us now. It's a strange one, since the new year trade is markedly different. It's our worst year in the trade - people are tightening their belts, more people drinking and smoking at home. "We do food, darts, and live music, but even the music isn't working as well to get people in.

4. "The era is close to ending, and once it has gone, it is never to return."

"I think pubs have been in demise ever since the rise of the Wetherspoons pubs.

"You can't compete with cheap booze, cheap food, maybe if you're a free-hold, but not an Enterprise."

26. THE MECHANICS ARMS, Stonehouse

Barman Pete Osbourne

1. "Trade is going up.

2. "The ban hasn't affected us.

3. "We provide entertainment, in three weeks we'll start doing food. We have great personality, atmosphere, and we're clean - come and see for yourself!

4. "I hope the era is not over.

27. The West Hoe, Bishops Place

Licensee Rebecca Stone, 262041

1. "Trade not too bad, starting to pick up.

2. "Smoking ban hit us hard, it's been an awful winter.

"We started doing food since the smoking ban, we had to or we'd have sunk.

3."Supermarkets have not really affected, we're very local and the old boys are starting to come out again after the smoking ban. We do real ale.

4. "I think the era is looking like it's over. I feel we've been pushed out by the government. Everything is too expensive to run.

28. The Yard Arm, Citadel Road

Nigel Ledger, Landlord 407927

1. "We're busy."

2. "We catered for the ban with two outside smoking areas, heated and non-heated. It's a nicer atmosphere without the smoking but our trade comes from doing good food.

3. "The chains are more of a concern than supermarkets. Pubs doing buy-one-get-one-free knocks it a bit, but we hold on to clients through our location, food and accommodation.

4. "I hope it's not the end, we're all struggling as a whole, being attacked by the government on all sides with taxes, price increases, and many pubs are under the hammer but you have to attract people. We do smaller portions for older people - a roast for £3.95, it gets them out of the house."

29. THE BILLACOMBE TAVERN, Billacombe Road

Liz Levers, Licensee 407927

1. "Week days are not fantastic but the weekends are ok."

2. "Pubs as a whole are suffering, there's a lot of movement in the trade.

"We focus on food, you've got to give people a reason to come to the pub

3. "People will sit in and drink a £3 bottle of wine but you can't beat the atmosphere of the pub.

"We've got an outside area, I think most people have accepted the changes - there's a whole new social life outside.

4. "I'd love to think it's not over, it's what makes us British - all the different people mingling, who might not talk to each other in their normal daily lives, but come together because of the pub. I hope it's just a blip.

"I think pubs will evolve. Quiz, Wii and poker nights are all becoming popular. People are coming in for activities, rather than just drinking. Perhaps it could become more about the food, more relaxed, like Mediterranean culture, but without losing the essence of the British pub."

30. THE VICTORY INN, Farm Lane.

773635, Sharon Anstis, Landlady

1. "Business is rubbish."

2. "Smoking ban killed it - we're a proper working mans pub where people would sit with a beer in one hand, a fag in the other.

3. "We've most definitely affected by supermarkets, Tesco's is just a two minute walk from here. We've tried everything, lowering price of beer, doing specials but it doesn't work. People want to sit and smoke.

4. "The era is over. We've just got to move on."
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk

Pub smoking ban rebel Smith now opens the Puff-Inn in Calderdale

Pub smoking ban rebel Smith now opens the Puff-Inn in Calderdale
SMOKING rebel Stuart Smith has given his backing to a pub offering smokers the chance to enjoy a cigarette and a pint when it re-opens on Friday.
Smith - who has appeared in court accused of flouting the smoking ban - says he is supporting his friend Gil Cushing, leaseholder of the former Mellor's Bar in New Hey Road, Rastrick, who is reopening the pub under the name The Puff-Inn.

When the bar opens at 5pm Mr Cushing says he will be serving pints dressed as Richard the Lionheart while Mr Smith, dressed as St George, says he will be having a drink and a cigarette with customers.

Mr Cushing, 26, will be applying for the lecense for the premises. He accepted he would probably be the next one before the courts.

"Even thought I'm a non-smoker, I feel strongly about this and I'm prepared to face the consequences if I have to," he said.
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk

What's the future for working men's clubs?

What's the future for working men's clubs?
By James Wallin

Christine Midwinter from the Westcott Place Working Men's Club
WORKING men's clubs across Swindon are suffering because of the smoking ban and competition from supermarkets.

Club secretaries say that customers are choosing to drink alcohol at home because of the difference in price and the freedom to smoke.

It comes after the Adver revealed that Gorse Hill Working Men's Club abruptly closed because of outstanding debts.

The club had already been removed from a national list of clubs registered by the Working Men's Club and Institute Union (CIU) in October, for not following the basic rules.

Christine Midwinter, from Westcott Place Working Men's Club, said: "What goes with a drink is a cigarette. It's as simple as that and anyone who smokes will tell you that.

"With a doubt our trade has been hit by the smoking ban. Our members now have to go and stand outside on the pavement if they want to have a cigarette.

"People don't want to come out for a drink and stand outside.

"Plus they can buy beer dirt cheap from the supermarkets.

"It's a real struggle."

Matt Carruthers, the manager at Purton Working Men's Club said that although his club had suffered less than some, he had noticed a decline in trade.

He said: "The smoking ban has had an effect but we are surviving.

"I think the fact that we have built a shelter and that a few of the pubs nearby have shut down has helped us.

"It will be hard though. The younger people generally don't come here and we are being hit hard by the prices in the supermarket.

"That's the real problem. I can't buy the alcohol as cheaply as they are selling it.

"I think there is a custom developing for English people to have a party at their house and drink from cans rather than go out."

Nick Labosquet, from the High Street Club, said that the smoking ban had been more of an inconvenience than a problem for them.

He said: "It hasn't affected us that much in terms of takings but I know it has been a great inconvenience to some people.

"The ridiculous thing is that in the summer non-smokers will be sat outside with other people smoking around them.

"We've been fortunate but I know it's been really difficult for clubs and pubs without a smoking area.

"I can understand people wanting a smoke-free environment and without a doubt that's what we have here.

"But I think what is important is to concentrate on good value and good quality of service for the members."
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk

Fears over Welsh pub closures

Fears over Welsh pub closures

23 May, 2008

By James Wilmore

Trade chief claims 100 pubs will close in next six months

A Welsh pub trade chief has claimed around 100 pubs in the valleys could shut in the next six months – mainly due to the smoking ban.

John Price, secretary of the Licensed Victuallers Association in Wales, told thepublican.com: “I’ll give us six months and you won’t see many pubs left in the valleys at all.”

He said many older people were not prepared to go outside for a cigarette, since the ban was introduced in April 2007.

“It’s the weather. Old people will not go outside if it’s raining,” he added.

“And the areas that don’t have passing trade are the ones that are really in trouble”.

Price said that seven pubs in Swansea had closed recently and nightclubs were suffering as well.

Rising overheads and utilities were also a reason for the negative on the trade, Price said.

He pointed the finger at the government, saying: “Somebody has to think about what they are doing to help pubs out. They have never said how they are going to help us.”

Price, licensee of the Bush Inn, in Clydach Vale, also expressed fears that councils would be stepping up their monitoring of pubs with regard the legislation.

“It’s going to go haywire from now on,” he said. “But if you are serving behind the bar you can’t be in the toilet watching everybody’s movements.”
http://www.thepublican.com

fear of being attacked can be used as a defence

fear of being attacked can be used as a defence
An environmental health boss says fear of being attacked can be used as a defence for not upholding the smoking ban.

Ian Gray, principal policy officer at the Chartered

Institute of Environmental Health, gave the advice in a written statement to magistrates.

Gray was called as a witness by Westminster Council in the trial of smoke rebel Dave West.

Last week West and his firm Jewelite Trading were fined for two offences of allowing smoking at the HeyJo club in Mayfair.

Gray's statement, seen by the MA, says: "If he [the person in control of the licensed premises] alleges that he considered that he would be at genuine threat of violence or fear of reprisals for asking an individual to stop smoking, he could offer this as a defence."

Harry Barnett, HeyJo executive, said West planned to use the evidence in a High Court appeal — with Cherie Blair employed in the fight.

But MA legal editor Peter Coulson said: "While fear of attack is a defence, there have to be special circumstances or clear evidence of threats for this to be a factor.

"I think it would be very difficult for a court to accept this defence."

West and Jewelite were fined £500 each and ordered to pay £5,591 costs.

Westminster's environmental health manager Andy Ralph said: "Westminster Council does not expect staff at licensed premises to put themselves at risk if they encounter difficult customers. However, where we believe a venue is failing to take its responsibilities under the Health Act seriously, we will look at instigating legal proceedings."
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk

Rampton patients lose bid to overturn smoking ban

Rampton patients lose bid to overturn smoking ban

Lord Justice PillPSYCHIATRIC patients should not be allowed to endanger their own and others' health by lighting up whilst detained in Rampton high security mental hospital, top judges ruled today.
In a case costing tens of thousands of pounds of public money, three patients argued that a ban on them smoking "in the privacy of their own home" violated their human rights.

But, after a four-day High Court hearing, two judges ruled that any inADVERTISEMENTterfence with their rights was justified and keeping Rampton "smoke free" was in the interests of patients' health.

Lawyers for three mental patients argued they were being unfairly singled out by the ban on smoking in any part of the Notts hospital - even outside in the grounds.

But, in a ruling which will force Rampton's smokers to kick the habit, Lord Justice Pill said: "There is very strong evidence that smoking causes disease and endangers the health of the smokers themselves and other people who live and work in their vicinity."

"There is, in our view, powerful evidence that, in the interests of public health, strict limitations upon smoking, and a complete ban in appropriate circumstances, are justified."

"A duty to protect others from smoke pollution arises with respect to patients, some of whom may be vulnerable, and to staff."

"On the view we take of the evidence, substantial health benefits arise from the ban and the disbenefits are insubstantial."

"Rampton is operated as a hospital by National Health Service staff and distinction between it and prisons and other accommodation is justified."

"Like other hospitals, it is smoke-free. Both health and security considerations justify the ban even though smoking in the grounds, which may be possible at other hospitals, is not feasible at Rampton."

The judge added that the smoking ban was also justified by security difficulties posed by allowing inmates - many of whom have "dangerous, violent or criminal propensities" - to smoke outside in Rampton's grounds.

Lawyers for the patients had argued that the smoking ban meant they would be the only group of people in the country banned from smoking "in the privacy of their own home".

Paul Bowen, for the patients, argued that others whose homes are in public spaces - such as soldiers and care home patients - will still be able to smoke under special exemptions once the ban comes into force in July and the total ban at Rampton amounted to unlawful discrimination.

Patients' average stay at Rampton is eight years, though for some it is much longer, and for some it is for life, and Mr Bowen argued that forcing them to give up smoking was a disproportionate interference with their right to privacy within their own home.

From 1st July, all mental health units would have a complete ban on smoking indoors. Even smoking in designated rooms would no longer be permitted and, at Rampton, smoking outdoors in the grounds would also be prohibited after the NHS said it was not feasible on security grounds.

The patients had also challenged the legality of a decision by Notts Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages Rampton, to impose the ban from April last year - months ahead of the smoke-free policy deadline - but their judicial review challenge was dismissed.

The three patients who brought the case, all of them legally aided, were denied permission to appeal against the High Court's ruling.
http://www.worksopguardian.co.uk

Goodbye country pubs, hello dull Norwegian clean living

Goodbye country pubs, hello dull Norwegian clean living
Excellent news! One thousand pubs have closed since the ban on smoking in the workplace, and who knows what further social and cultural glories might follow, with the present generation of Pecksniffs in power? For when they decide that something shall happen, so happen it usually does -- but in an unfailingly dysfunctional and unintended way. Thus the relationship between the State and the Irish country pub: sooner or later, the former will be the death of the latter -- and not through design, but through busy-body stupidity and bone-headed arrogance,

Now, when the smoking ban was introduced in pubs five years ago, I warned that the consequences would be horrendous; but even I was not prepared for the slaughter which was to follow. Pub licences which once changed hands for hundreds of thousands of pounds are now as useless as Hospital Sweeps Tickets from the 1950s. A social calamity is befalling one of the great staples of Irish life, with worse to come.

The same is true in the North, where the Republic's pioneering in blundering, statist intrusion into people's private lives is being followed with a slavishness which must make Craigavon turn in his grave, and cause Brookeborough to wonder why he ever bothered. The smoking ban there killed 100 pubs in its first year alone, with hundreds more to follow. And these things accelerate, as people realise how uncomfortable smoking outside is, especially in winter, and they gradually start to drink at home instead.

I loathe cigarette smoke, and it was monstrous that we non-smokers should have had to endure smokers' bronchial waste in our lungs and in our hair. But proportion in all things: a happy medium was possible -- such as, certain pubs being licensed to allow smoking, or for pubs to have allocated particular rooms for smoking, with effective air-conditioning. But no -- we went down the absolutist route of His Eminence, John Charles McQuaid: one total authority, laying down the law, without subtlety or nuance or human understanding. That was the austere, ranting Calvinist God in ornate Catholic vestments, Ireland's unique contribution to Christian practice. Thus the Ireland of yesterday, which banned condoms, divorce, abortion, hundreds of magazines and thousands of books, and which treated personal sin as legal crime.

Well, the archbishop is gone, and so, too, is his God, as Irish Catholicism morphs into an agnostic and unprincipled mishmash of whatever you're having yourself, Father Sean. The place of the hierarchy has been taken by a political caste of secular authoritarians, a blessed tribe who -- like John Charles and Dev himself -- merely have to look into their own hearts to divine what is right for the Irish people. And from its particular cardiac organ, the Road Safety Authority has decided that the blood-alcohol level should be reduced from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood, and -- this is the best bit -- that for learner drivers it should be 20mg.

So the RSA thinks learner drivers should be able to have a little drink before they drive? Are they mad? Learners shouldn't be allowed anywhere near drink, at all: and nor should experienced drivers. Yet the RSA also thinks that the blood-alcohol level for mature drivers should be cut by nearly 40pc of the present level.

B ut there is no evidence that people who are drinking a couple of pints of beer are causing road-deaths. Indeed, we know that reckless youngsters -- who are ignoring both alcohol and speed limits -- are the primary drink-driving threat to others' lives. Punishing the rest of us because of their excesses is not merely crazy, but it is economically and socially ruinous.

Firstly, our brewing industry cannot survive these assaults on their main outlet: off-sales will not compensate for the loss of the pub. And rural society will be infinitely poorer if isolated farmers are unable to gather over a few leisurely drinks, without risk of prosecution. For how many drinks does the 50mg limit allow? And who is going to risk it, as the entire weight of the law, the courts and the insurance industry is lined up to punish some lonely old farmer who has merely had a couple drinks, and who is driving reasonably skilfully and safely homewards?

The proposed law will be either ignored or enforced. With the former, it joins the vast plethora of laws which Dail Eireann regularly passes, and which it no more intends to be enforced than it means to re-route the Liffey back into the Wicklow hills. But if it is enforced, it will solely punish moderate drinkers, who have not harmed anyone, and are not likely to. Indeed, they are its target-group, and this is morally infamous and legally inexcusable.

Finally, t