In todays news...

[Dodgy69]

Another nail in the coffin of the pub trade (potentially, maybe, perhaps)

https://news.sky.com/story/smoking-coul ... s-13205117

But more importantly, why is the dillon trying to spark up an already lit ciggie

Are the smoke rooms of Westminster still open.

[Mussels]

A few posts on X yesterday posted this video and asked if the two-tier justice system would care.
Turns out in this story it was worse than that, there were police there who saw it and ignored it. When prompted they spoke to the guy and let him go without even taking a name
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgeneq9wydo

Attacked Nando's worker 'let down' by Met officers

[gremlin]

I actually think shopkeepers should be allowed to defend their shops/goods/staff with reasonable force. Currently there's no downside to shoplifting.

Big bloke shoves a plate of hot food into a young girls face because he knows fuck all will be done. It should be that the hue and cry goes up and out come the kitchen staff with metal implements and give him a good shoeing.

I've said for a long time, the only people in this country who are policed are those of us who allow ourselves to be be policed. If you want to live outside the law you can do so with virtual impunity.

[Yorick]

I actually think shopkeepers should be allowed to defend their shops/goods/staff with reasonable force. Currently there's no downside to shoplifting.

Big bloke shoves a plate of hot food into a young girls face because he knows fuck all will be done. It should be that the hue and cry goes up and out come the kitchen staff with metal implements and give him a good shoeing.

I've said for a long time, the only people in this country who are policed are those of us who allow ourselves to be be policed. If you want to live outside the law you can do so with virtual impunity.

Did you get that half kilo of coke I posted to you?

[DefTrap]

Another nail in the coffin of the pub trade (potentially, maybe, perhaps)

I've worked for Healthcare companies where employees smoking in the vicinity was 'formally discouraged' as it projected a bad image (burning one up out the front is bad, but waddling up with a pie in your face is fine - the hypocrisy). I was obliged to walk a hundred yards or so away and stand in the nearest available shelter, presumably ruining the public image of some other organisation.
It was shit, but smoking is for outlaws innit?

I've given up now, but it certainly wasn't because of inconvenience, or cost.

[gremlin]

I actually think shopkeepers should be allowed to defend their shops/goods/staff with reasonable force. Currently there's no downside to shoplifting.

Big bloke shoves a plate of hot food into a young girls face because he knows fuck all will be done. It should be that the hue and cry goes up and out come the kitchen staff with metal implements and give him a good shoeing.

I've said for a long time, the only people in this country who are policed are those of us who allow ourselves to be be policed. If you want to live outside the law you can do so with virtual impunity.

Did you get that half kilo of coke I posted to you?

Dog ate it. She's currently doing laps of the garden at 150mph.

She'll be fine by next Wednesday.

[Buckaroo]

I actually think shopkeepers should be allowed to defend their shops/goods/staff with reasonable force. Currently there's no downside to shoplifting.

Big bloke shoves a plate of hot food into a young girls face because he knows fuck all will be done. It should be that the hue and cry goes up and out come the kitchen staff with metal implements and give him a good shoeing.

I've said for a long time, the only people in this country who are policed are those of us who allow ourselves to be be policed. If you want to live outside the law you can do so with virtual impunity.

Did you get that half kilo of coke I posted to you?

Hope it was smokeless

[Count Steer]

Another nail in the coffin of the pub trade (potentially, maybe, perhaps)

I've worked for Healthcare companies where employees smoking in the vicinity was 'formally discouraged' as it projected a bad image (burning one up out the front is bad, but waddling up with a pie in your face is fine - the hypocrisy).

Radio interviewer pointed out to the nanny stater that was supporting the change because it's damaging to the health and costs the NHS money - 'people eat and drink themselves to death, obesity costs the NHS money, what do you plan to do to stop people doing that?'

The interviewee changed tack and said people smoking in pub gardens might be standing next to a children's play area.

[Yorick]

Big bloke shoves a plate of hot food into a young girls face because he knows fuck all will be done. It should be that the hue and cry goes up and out come the kitchen staff with metal implements and give him a good shoeing.

I've said for a long time, the only people in this country who are policed are those of us who allow ourselves to be be policed. If you want to live outside the law you can do so with virtual impunity.

Did you get that half kilo of coke I posted to you?

Dog ate it. She's currently doing laps of the garden at 150mph.

She'll be fine by next Wednesday.

Apparently it's the real good stuff. They did me a deal
35€ for half a kilo

[Yorick]

'I stole to order' says prolific ex-shoplifter

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czdpvd41z7mo

Now, in preparation for me becoming the benevolent dictator of the entire world, with the exception of the Isle of Man, I want to run something past you all.

Ross, according to the news article, has been giving it a bit of five-fingered discount all his adult life, in order to feed his drug habit. I feel society and successive governments have failed him. Hence I propose that once my dictatorship is in place and the individuals found littering, puffing on a sickly smelling vape, riding e-bikes with those silly balaclavas and those who fail to indicate when turning left at roundabouts have been vaporised, I turn my attention to the likes of Ross....

Were he to be branded with a mark across his forehead, maybe a 'T' for thief, he would be instantly recognisable and shops could eject him as soon as he sets foot in the door. Thus he would be deprived of goods to sell to fund his habit and would be clean in no time, ready to take his place back in society, minus e-bikes and the like, naturally.

Thoughts?

Do like the Arabs. Chop his right hand off.

Quiz question. Why do those countries always choose the right hand?

[Count Steer]

'Cos the left is used for 'unclean' tasks like bum wiping.

[Yorick]

'Cos the left is used for 'unclean' tasks like bum wiping.

So at meal times they are seen to eat with their dirty hand. That's a big nono

[Count Steer]

'Cos the left is used for 'unclean' tasks like bum wiping.

So at meal times they are seen to eat with their dirty hand. That's a big nono

And vice versa the faith decrees that the right should only be used for 'clean' tasks like writing and eating, so if they lopped off the right they'd be forcing them to go against the religion.

Must be difficult if you're a keggy hander.

Wonder what happens if you lose the left in an accident - do you get a dispensation?

(The waiter in my old local curry house said I ate like a Muslim....but that's probably 'cos I used chapattis like cutlery Bradford trained. )

[Yorick]

Loads of folk moaning about banning smoking outside pubs etc.
Pubs will close blah blah blah.

Just looked and smoking is declining. Only about 12% of adults smoke.

So the maximum number of folk who will avoid pubs is almost negligible. And not all of them will boycott pubs
Indeed more folk might go if it's all smoke free.

[Mussels]

Loads of folk moaning about banning smoking outside pubs etc.
Pubs will close blah blah blah.

Just looked and smoking is declining. Only about 12% of adults smoke.

So the maximum number of folk who will avoid pubs is almost negligible. And not all of them will boycott pubs
Indeed more folk might go if it's all smoke free.

The problem I see with that is smokers will just go and stand out on the pavement, blocking it and causing accidents. Pubs in London without a beer garden make getting round some areas a PITA.

[MrLongbeard]

Indeed more folk might go if it's all smoke free.

That's what they said when the smoking ban first came in.

Taking the pre-ban years, 1980 to 2006, the average percentage loss of pubs per year was 0.65%. From 2007, the year of the ban, onwards, the average has been 2.8%. In 2007, there were 56,791 pubs in the UK, so one would have expected, based on the long-term trend, 369 pubs to close. The actual figure was 1,409. So, an ‘excess’ of 1,040 pubs closed, suggesting that perhaps three-quarters of the closures may have been caused by the ban. The ‘excess’ closures have continued at a similarly high rate in subsequent years. (Studies of the pub industry by Nielsen PLC and PriceWaterhouseCoopers provide additional support for the hypothesis that the smoking ban is a key driving force behind pub closures.)

[Horse]

The ‘excess’ closures have continued at a similarly high rate in subsequent years. (Studies of the pub industry ... provide additional support for the hypothesis that the smoking ban is a key driving force behind pub closures.)

How does it make sense that the smoking ban was the cause of [much] later closures?

[demographic]

The ‘excess’ closures have continued at a similarly high rate in subsequent years. (Studies of the pub industry ... provide additional support for the hypothesis that the smoking ban is a key driving force behind pub closures.)

How does it make sense that the smoking ban was the cause of [much] later closures?

Halleys commet innit, harbinger of evel.
Since it was discovered some bad things have happened, Fact.

[MrLongbeard]

The ‘excess’ closures have continued at a similarly high rate in subsequent years. (Studies of the pub industry ... provide additional support for the hypothesis that the smoking ban is a key driving force behind pub closures.)

How does it make sense that the smoking ban was the cause of [much] later closures?

Much later closures can't be chalked up solely to the smoking ban IMHO, but was it a factor in some form or another, yes, again in my humble opinion as were the increases in alcohol prices etc etc, but you'd need to ask them as I pretty much knocked pubs on the head as a regular activity once the ban came in.

[Felix]

Feb 25th i will have stopped smoking for 12 years. I go to pubs less due to the price of beer rather than standing next to a smelly smoker. As for strain on the NHS these smelly smokers pay the tax and have a right to the NHS. If you interfering greedy cunts stopped cuts in the NHS they would still have enough staff to cope.