Lib Dems clash over smoking ban
Candidates for the Liberal Democrat leadership have clashed over the merits of a smoking ban.
Sir Menzies Campbell said he would support it, but Mark Oaten retorted: "If you're going to be a liberal, Ming, you can't pick and mix on the subjects you're going to be a liberal on." He was backed by Simon Hughes, who is currently the bookies' favourite for the leadership, who said: "My instinct is always less legislation, less regulation. Personally, I won't be voting for the smoking ban."
Source: DeHavilland (17 January 2006)
posted by Simon Clark @ 18:23
1 comments
1 Comments:
It's interesting how individual MPs take such differing views despite their shared political affiliations.
What is says to me is that the issue of passive smoking and the health of 3rd parties does not figure in their voting intentions (despite the silly claims made, particularly by Mr Huhne), it is simply down to whether or not each one has a personal dislike of (or sensitivity to) smoking.
If it were simply down to the passive smoke 'risk' then I am sure that few MPs would be incapable of seeing thorugh the rhetoric and propaganda of the anti-tobacco fascists, and at least accept that the case is not made (nor yet proven).
In the circumstances, therefore, I feel that to allow MPs a free vote, enabling their own personal whims to lead to a massive global, and absolute restriction on the freedoms of millions of their fellow citizens, is profoundly undemocratic.
I despair at the passivity of the population of the UK. They seem to be content to sleepwalk towards a totalitarian state. I know it may appear emotive to say so, but I have never known a time when I could imagine the coming of our own Hitler. It isn't far away, now.
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