Tag: Scotland

A new report says Scotland must break its ‘addiction to big government and creeping prohibition’.
Published by the smokers’ group Forest, The McNanny State argues that since devolution in 1999 Scotland has become a ‘puritan’s playpen’ with politicians repeatedly intervening in the lives of ordinary people.
Highlighting the smoking ban, minimum pricing of alcohol and the named person scheme as examples of the McNanny state, the report attacks what it calls the ‘politics of intervention’.
“Public health officials moralise on our lifestyles with edicts based more on superstition than hard evidence,” said the author of the report, former member of the Scottish Parliament, Brian Monteith. “They make outrageous claims based on disreputable science that on investigation are often found to be baseless.
“With smoking and alcohol under the cosh the next big thing is going to be controlling what we eat. Portion sizes, calorie levels, and promotions that save money for those least well off will all be attacked.
“Scotland must break its addiction to big government and creeping prohibition. The country has become a puritan’s playground and it is going to get a lot worse before enough people wake up to the McNanny State and do something about it.”
The report features a foreword by journalist and novelist Allan Massie who wrote that ever since the Scottish Parliament came into being in 1999, politicians had chipped away at the liberties of the people.
“The Scottish state today treats adults as people incapable of managing their own lives and, if they are parents, as people who cannot be trusted with the unfettered care of their children,” Massie said.
“We are now in the grip of a political class that is complacently certain of its moral or ethical superiority, a class that in its ineffable conceit has no doubt that it knows what is good for us, and does not hesitate to legislate accordingly.”
Simon Clark (pictured), director of Forest, described the report as hugely topical. “The Scottish Government’s new tobacco control plan, announced last week [June 20], is another blow for those who want less not more state interference in their daily lives,” he said.
“Proposals to ban smoking in social housing and restrict the number of shops that sell tobacco represent further attacks on consumers and convenience stores that are already over-regulated to the point that they are struggling to stay in business.
“The aim of this report is to launch a national debate on the role of government in people’s lives and examine the way the issue is being addressed in political and media circles.
“Our goal is to put lifestyle choices back into the hands of consumers, not politicians and state-funded pressure groups.”

Most Scots think government policies aimed at reducing smoking rates have gone too far or far enough, according to the results of a new poll.
A majority would allow smoking rooms in pubs and clubs, and permit designated smoking areas in prisons and hospital grounds.
An overwhelming majority think smoking should be allowed in the home and in private vehicles.
The public also believes the Scottish Government has more pressing concerns than tackling smoking.
The poll of 1,021 adults in Scotland was carried out by Populus for the smokers’ group Forest ahead of the announcement of the Scottish Government’s new tobacco control plan which is expected later this month.
Key findings of the poll were:

• 54 percent of people think Government policies to reduce smoking rates have gone too far or far enough; 37 percent think they have not gone far enough; and nine percent are undecided.
• (12 years after smoking was banned in every pub and club in Scotland) 57 percent of people think pubs and private members’ clubs, including working men’s clubs, should be allowed to provide a well-ventilated designated smoking room, while 16 percent are opposed to the idea and 27 percent are undecided.
• (With regard to the Scottish Government’s zero tolerance policy on smoking in prisons) 66 percent of people agree that prisoners should be allowed to smoke in designated smoking areas.
• (With regard to the Scottish Government’s zero tolerance policy on smoking in hospital grounds) 56 percent of people and 82 percent of frequent smokers believe that National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts should be allowed to provide designated smoking areas in hospital grounds for patients, visitors and staff.
• (Following calls to extend smoking bans to social housing, all private vehicles and some public parks) 86 percent of people think smoking should be permitted in the home; 74 percent think smoking should be permitted when smokers are alone in their own vehicle; and 55 percent think smoking should be allowed in outdoor public parks.
• (Smoking on stage and film and TV sets is allowed in England but not in Scotland where it was outlawed in 2006) 61 percent of respondents believe that actors should be allowed to smoke on stage in Scotland when smoking is integral to the plot or characterisation, while 34 percent are opposed to the idea.

Meanwhile, Scots believe the Scottish Government has more pressing concerns than tackling smoking. Asked to consider a list of 10 priorities for the NHS in Scotland, respondents said investing in new doctors and nurses is the most important priority and tackling smoking is the least important priority.
When it comes to local government priorities in Scotland, tackling smoking was again considered the least important priority, with maintenance of roads and bridges considered the most important.
Other findings were:

• 44 percent of Scots think that tobacco taxation (which is responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of the price of a pack of cigarettes) is too high, 41 percent think it is about right and 15 percent think it is too low.
• 61 percent of respondents agreed that existing measures to reduce smoking rates should be subject to a full and independent review to consider their impact on consumers, retailers and public health before the Scottish Government proceeds with further measures to reduce the sale and consumption of tobacco products.
• 34 percent think smokers are treated unfairly by the Government, 28 percent believe they are treated fairly, and 38 percent believe they are treated neither fairly nor unfairly.
• 73 percent of regular smokers polled believe smokers are treated unfairly by the Government.

Urging the Scottish Government to “abandon its war on smokers”, Forest director Simon Clark (pictured) said the Scottish political establishment was clearly out of step with the public who supported fair and reasonable restrictions on where people could smoke, not prohibition.
“Any further regulations to tackle smoking would be a distraction from other more important issues facing central and local government in Scotland,” he said.
“The Scottish Government should listen to public opinion, abandon its war on smokers and focus on education not legislation.”

A report in the Scottish Sun describing how prisoners in Scottish jails could be given jigsaws and colouring books to wean them off cigarettes has been met with incredulity.
“Smoking is one of the few pleasures many prisoners enjoy,” said Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest.
“That’s why tobacco is an important currency in prison.
“It’s laughable to think you can replace it with jigsaws or colouring books.
“Smoking is not a right but if inmates wish to smoke there should be areas where they can light up without the long arm of the nanny state denying them that small comfort.
“If, on the other hand, the plan is to treat them like children, don’t be surprised if they behave like children.”

Anti-tobacco campaigners in Scotland are pushing for new measures that could prevent smokers from lighting up at home, according to a story by Colin McNeill for the Herald Scotland.

ASH Scotland wants to hold talks with social housing providers to explore ways of introducing no-smoking rules for some tenants.

It wants to look also at how legislation surrounding smoking in residential care homes could be tightened to protect staff from passive smoking.

The move has been boosted by a call from Aberdeen University academic Dr. Sean Semple for a national debate around smoking at home.

“We need to have a debate on why we currently think it acceptable to expose non-smokers, including children, to second-hand tobacco smoke within indoor spaces,” he said. “That debate needs to include smoking in the home.”

However, the smokers’ group Forest was said to have branded any attempt to stop people from smoking in a home setting as “obnoxious”, adding that it would constitute a gross invasion of privacy and be almost impossible to enforce.

“Targeting social housing is particularly obnoxious because it penalises unfairly those who can’t afford to buy their own home,” Forest director Simon Clark was quoted as saying. “Prohibiting smoking at home would be almost impossible to enforce but it could create a snooper’s charter encouraging people to snitch on neighbours they don’t like.

“What happens if someone is caught and prosecuted? The consequences, including possible eviction, are out of all proportion to the alleged offence.”

Meanwhile, a Japan Times story on Monday reported how a by-law aimed at protecting children from passive smoking – including in private places such as their homes – had been enacted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.

What was said to be the first prefecture-level measure of its kind calls on people not to smoke inside rooms or vehicles in which children under 18 are present.

The by-law, which carries no penalties, calls on Tokyoites to try to ensure that children are not subjected to passive smoking anywhere. It calls on parents not to smoke in rooms where children are present.