Labour Bottles It .........

[ToraToraTora]

https://news.sky.com/story/labour-confirms-u-turn-on-proposed-ban-on-smoking-and-vaping-in-pub-gardens-13248643

They don't seem to mind mugging pensioners.

[bednobs]

again i'll ask why are pensioners benefits sacrosanct in your mind.  pensioners should give up their cars, tellys, fags, booze and holidays just like other benefit receivers are told to regularly by you.

benefits should be a safety net for those in most need, not universal.  

[naomi24]

Good. The hospitality trade is under enough pressure.

[Deskdiary]

Making it illegal to smoke in the open air was a bit of an odd proposal in the first place, so it is right it has been shelved.

[ToraToraTora]

Open air but in pub gardens, I'd hoped to be able to sit outside a boozer again.

[vulcan42]

A lot of the problems in this country affecting people is caused by successive Government intransigents. When the WFA was universal a lot of people said they didn't need it and offered to cancel or return it. "You can't " said government.

If they had allowed those who didn't want it to cancel, perhaps there would have been enough saved to give to those who need it now. 

[theshedman]

bednobs, as has been said on here many times before the state pension should not be classed as a benefit as you pay into it all your working life.

[Ken4155]

I've just been stricken by a severe bout of 'deja vu'.

[bednobs]

im talking about WFA, not pension shedman - it's now being means tested, not universal

[bednobs]

"

When the WFA was universal a lot of people said they didn't need it and offered to cancel or return it. "You can't " said government.

If they had allowed those who didn't want it to cancel, perhaps there would have been enough saved to give to those who need it now. "

so now thosepeople who wanted to not have it have got what they wanted.

people who need it will stillget it as it's nowmeans tested.

I can't think of another blanket benefit that is universal in the same way the wfa was

[vulcan42]

" so now thosepeople who wanted to not have it have got what they wanted." That's true but how many milions would have been saved if their suggestion had been heeded all those years ago. What ever way you look at it, the Government needlessly wasted money. 

[nicebloke1]

    @9.56 Anyhow back to smoking.TTT pub gardens are in ( the open air) not seen one inside yet.<#:•)

[ToraToraTora]

gawd elp us half of dumb and dumber has stirred!

[nicebloke1]

No real answer then other than an insult? I was at a riverside pub yesterday. 3 people inside 15 plus me and 4 mates, all the business was coming from outside garden. Vaping and smoking by nearly all 20 customers?

[Old_Geezer]

I understand why they had a rethink, but it wasn't the best solution. Ideally they should have kept the ban and investigated other ways to keep the hospitality industry profitable.

[bednobs]

yes, i completely agree vulcan, recieving universal benefits simply by dint of .your age  seems wrong (on the surface) to me.  

i just wonder why the OP has a bee in his bonnet about pensioners being "mugged", when he has made his views of people on benefits clear many times in the past.  He has yet to answer me though.  I guess it's a combination of 1) coz it's a labour policy and 2) because it affects him, rahter than people he can deride

at least now that's changed i guess

[rowanwitch]

It would be nice to use pub gardens in the summer, I can't because being around a lot of smokers makes my asthma worse.  However in Harborne ( nice area in birmingham) some of the pubs ask patrons to use the smoking shelters even if they are seated outside  as they feel it's better for patrons who are eating at other tables.