Was Banning Smoking in Public Places against Civil Liberties.? (UK)?

There are more Deaths from Sexual Transmitted deseases and Drinking ....than Smoking in the UK on average every year and they Ban smoking in Public Places.?
There is a case of a Publican being taken to Court in the UK for allowing smoking in his Pub.....He took a friend who owns a Gay Bar next door...When asked if he had anything to say in his defence, the Publican introduced his friend who owns the Gay Bar. His friend said, 'If I can have a sign on the front of my Bar stating it was a Gay Bar and please dont enter if easily offended, then WHY! cant my friend have a sign on the front of his Pub stating 'This is a smokers pub, please dont enter if your easily offended.' .......The Magistrate couldnt answer him......Apparently the case is currently being reviewed in Brussels at the Court of Human Rights and if the Publican wins, the law on smoking in Public Places will have to be revoked....This is TRUE. Banning smoking in a Public Place is an infringement on Civil Liberties period.

I have been a smoker for years and years
and i wonder if those who are so against
smokers would have a lung transplant,
from a smoker if it was there last chance
to live ?
My civil liberty's are being infringed.

I don't know where you got your figures from but smoking is the most preventable cause of fatal illness not STDs or drinking.Drinking does often go hand in hand with smoking which causes even more problems.
It is not against anyone civil liberties as the by product is the carcinogens emitted in cigarette smoke are harmful to non smokers
This is like saying is stopping me hitting,abusing someone an infringement of my civil liberties.This is a fighting pub anyone

I agree with you completely. The smoking ban is just one example of this government's "sledgehammer" policies.

There is no reason at all why a publican can't choose between allowing smoking or not allowing smoking in his/her bar.

I work in mainland Europe and I know from experience that bars in Spain, Germany and Belgium leave the choice up to the bar owner.

It's rather ironic that the only bar in England and Wales which doesn't have a smoking ban is in the Houses Of Parliament.

The trouble with the Human Rights legislation is that my human rights are inevitably going to conflict with yours from time to time. No legislation has ever choked a system to the degree that this does. Whenever there is an individual seeking to assert a particular right, it would seem, there will be another protesting that this will result in an infringement of his own human rights. So much legislation which Parliament has passed over recent years has subsequently been overruled by judges. We are slowly and inexorably descending into chaos.

hope the publican wins, i couldnt see why there wasnt smoking n non smoking pubs, then people have a choice, not you get people saying they feel threatened when they walk past a croud of smokers outside a pub ?? how about some consideration for us high tax paying smokers ??????????????????

It would be a civil liberties infringement if you were banned full stop but you have'nt been, you can still smoke if you choose too. FFS, Get over it!

To the first answerer -

if you like clean air so much, why don't YOU go and stand outside? There's plenty of it there....


(that notwithstanding, I smoke, yet am in favour of the ban)

I think people should be able to choose.Why not have smoking and non smoking pubs.Give people the choice.Aren't we supposed to have freedom of choice.

Yes against the civil liberties of the non smoker , who doesn,t want to breath other peoples poison

It is indeed but then so is my right to clean air.

typical selfish answer defending smoking ,you know its bad for you ....fair enough but why should my fresh air in the street be polluted without consideration why should kids be exposed anywhere give it up selfish person and save your self a fortune.......never mind your life. ps you never see tobacco bosses smoking they kill themselves laughing at you instead! heard one on tv saying "i leave smoking to the mugs who buy my cigarettes".do you really want to give your money to a guy who considers you a mug while you kill yourself giving him money!. i rest my case. ps the boss didnt know he was being filmed.

eAs smoking is still legal in this country, then I think that it is an attack on Civil Liberties to introduce a blanket ban. Ther should be a choice of smoking and non-smoking pubs etc, or they could bring back the old smoking rooms. With the right air filters installed it would not affect the rest of the building. problem is that the government does not like us to have free choice, our rights are being steadily eroded. The argument that it protects staff in pubs from secondary smoke inhalation is spurious, in all the pubs I frequent the staff are smokers too. If you don't want to inhale secondary smoke, don't work in a pub. Pubs and bars are reporting takings down by as much as 20%, people go outside for a ciggie whe they used to have a smoke with a drink. And cigarette smoke hid a multitude of less than pleasant odours, from the pub toilets to the smell of some of hte customers. As for banning smoking in placews like bus stations etc, that is just insane.

What civil liberties are you talking about? There is no list of civil liberties that allows citizens to do as they please. The Human Rights Act contains a number of principle based protections for rights that most would consider fundamental (fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and religion) but even these are not absolute and there is a choice to be made when they come into conflict. Some people in the UK seem to be very quick to make sweeping statements about their civil liberties everytime there is some initiative that might affect their desire to do as they please irrespective of the affect it might have on others. What civil liberties actually are is a protection of the fundamentals, as per the Human Rights Act above, the principle is that the government can not abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens without good reason. You might not like it but there are a number of reasons that smoking in (enclosed) public places was banned just like there are reasons for the use of speed cameras. Your civil liberties argument might be slightly stronger if there was an outright ban, however you would still need to counter the argument that smokers have greater recourse to the public purse due to health related issues. It is actually quite offensive that people ignorantly rant about civil liberties over a smoking ban when fundamental rights such as the right to know what you are being detained for are being undermined by the day.

Yes it is but the proponents of it will claim all kinds of public safety issues , that have no basis in fact


"Right to clean air"
DOES NOT EXIST