now this is for both sides of the argument;   first off, why were the public not consulted about this new regulation?   i know of people who dont smoke and they dont really care whether i (or others) do   second, what is it going to meen to you as an individual ?   Mr Shaggy                                                                                                                                                                             

Am looking forward to being able to go to a bar and not going home and stinking of someone else bad habit.                                                                                                                                                                              

Oh don't get ME started lol  government!!     Considering that passive smoking has NOT been proved to cause death I can't see why there's a need for a total ban? Yea it makes ya stink and some folk can't stand the smell, which is fair enough, but hardly cause to ban it, if we're going on that reason then it should be made illegal for folk to NOT wear deodorant cos I can't stand the smell of BO and I find that offensive. If someone with BO sits on a bus/train seat the smell transfers to the seat which then transfers to my clothes.    It caused me a bit of confusion, when I was on a train platform, the screen info changed from train tiems to the ban. It said it will be illegal to smoke in ALL of this train station. As a platform has no ENDS it is NOT an enclosed public space, therefore they must be going by the 'no smoking in a work place' rule, I incorrectly thought that meant MY work place, not EVERYONE else's. DOH!     Why have they advertised the places we aren't legally allowed to smoke? such as shops, buses etc we haven't smoked in/on them for many years. I feel we're being treated like naughty children who can't be trusted to not smoke where we shouldn't. I'm quite capable of goin without a fag when I visit a cafe, I light up when I've left. It hasn't been illegla to smoke in shops, or buses etc but us smokers have managed to go to the places without having a fag while we're there.   Working men's clubs used to have a tap room, for smokers to use, why can't such rooms be implemented in pubs etc.   And why can't we smoke in a car park, or grounds, of a hospital??   FGS they'll be banning sex next cos it's the only way of stopping sexually transmitted diseases.                                                                                                                                                                                   

  Many years ago it was the government who encouraged folk to smoke cos it was believed to be beneficial to health, hence why nurses gave patients cigarettes.   It's now the government who are introducing a total ban.   Strange how the government keep handing out licences for manufacturers to produce tobacco products. Why don't they just stop making them?!!      How 2 faced is our government?! They want us to keep buying tobacco products but then dictate where we can use them and frown upon smokers who need medical treatment for smoking related illness.   Is the word democracy still in the dictionary? It's not used much in this country!                                                                                                                                                                                     

Kwak please dont give our glorious leader (fnar fnar) MORE ideas !!!   For Fxxks sake,  you all have to remeber that we live in a nanny state now.   you cant let your kids out to play, you cant speak your mind, as it might infringe someones civil rights,  how about my bloody civil rights !!!!   angry,   you damb well bet i am angry !!! at the best of times i am a mild manored working guy, who goes about his work and pays his tax on time, then i get told that i cant even have a fag in my own office.!!!   bugger them all.    i am going to light up in my ofice when i damb well please, (as i am usually the only one in at week ends so sod em)   `climbs off of soapbox` goes into office and makes a cuppa.                                                                                                                                                                             

    Milk no sugar please? Mr Shaggy  lol                                                                                                                                                                             

we as a country are told what to do by people that we voted into government ???   i was under the impresion that as we voted them into government they were there to do as we wished them to do,    but no,  once they are in they do what they please.   sod em.   thats one of the reasons why i dont vote, it dont matter the government gets in and screws it up any how. whats the point ????   democracy,  odd word init, in this country it dont mean a thing anymore.   PS sorry about the rant, i am a little annoyed (sorry a lot annoyed just found out via the smoking (non) website, that i cant smoke in my van either, and i am the only one who drives the bloody thing)                                                                                                                                                                             

one or two Kwak ?                                                                                                                                                                             

i wonder if it applies to rallies etc ?   would you go up to a Hell Angel and tell himne he cant have a smoke at the bar ???   i am looking forward to the time that one of these council hitlers tells me to put my ciggie out.   oh boy,   court here i come !!!!                                                                                                                                                                             

  Open the window, and blow the smoke out of it, technically you aren't smoking IN the van     It's a £50 fine, or a court appearance, (get your one and only suit cleaned lol) if you're caught smoking where it's illegal to do so.   I'm thinking of getting one of those fake fags that looks the real deal just to wind up folk, when they indignantly tell me 'you can't smoke here' and I say 'I aint smokin, get your facts straight'                                                                                                                                                                               

    Alas it also applies to TENTS at rallies, (ALL ENCLOSED PUBLIC PLACES)   but...as I assume, ya don't get many coppers at rallies I can't see how that would be 'policed'                                                                                                                                                                              

  One or two what?  I don't take sugar  I'm sweet enough rofpml                                                                                                                                                                               

i'mm always walking into shops etc with a ciggie in the corner of my mouth (never lit tho) its a great wind up you get security coming after you & all sorts   i'm wondering now how long it will be before smoking in any public place is banned IE town centres, parks, etc  worth thinking about eh, perhaps its time to take a stand now ?                                                                                                                                                                             

  Where do ya want me to stand? I have my own portable soap box                                                                                                                                                                              

just stand at the bar with a smoke kwak  i'm sure it would be entertaining to watch in a few days

  Lend me £50 for me fine and I will                                                                                                                                                                              

kwak my tent aint no public place at a rally god help anyone  who enters....lol                                                                                                                                                                             

  I mean the public tents ya nana  ya know BEER tent, bla bla                                                                                                                                                                              

sorry too late for me to read all the posts (2:10am here) as im too tired.   Just wanna say its about bloody time!!!!  Too long have us non-smokers had to suffer from others' bad habbits and plain ignorant attitudes.   Whether it causes us to die or not isnt the issue - I dont like the smell, the taste and the fact my eyes HURT all night causing me to have to leave PUBLIC places!!!  It makes me laught when smokers say to me "Well go outside then".  WTF should I???  YOU go outside!   Coming in over here (In HOLLAND of all places) next year too... cooool.                                                                                                                                                                             

Matt,   There is a geometric shape called a wedge.......   Una King, that well known leftwing labour MP, (who bangs on about civil rights), answered a question on 'Any Questions' (R4) with the statement,  ".....and the sooner these measures are applied to alcohol, the better off this counrty will be...."   A wedge, Matt, has a really thin edge.........   Think about it.