Chris Whitty urges MPs to ignore lobbying and pass smoking ban bill

29 comments

1. Criminals are licking their lips at the prospect of a new black market opening up for cigarettes.

2. It’s so fucking wild how tobacco use is so frowned on but then the ingestion of alcohol, which is literally poison, gets absolutely zero fucking heat.

3. Oh please mr government, ban more stuff! Tax everything higher. Cradle me. I’m an adult and I need you to make every decision for me.

4. This is exactly why you need multiple specialists and not just 1 type.

   He’s totally right on the medical aspect.

   Any political historian would laugh at him though.

5. Personally I don’t think the government should be banning cigarettes.

   At a certain point adults should be allowed to decide what substances they consume.

6. If I didn’t have to pay for your health care, I truly couldn’t give a shit what you put in your body.

   But it seems unfair that people who choose not to smoke have to subsidise the ramifications of those who do.

   But then those who smoke pay more in VAT.

   It’s all confusing and requires a much deeper conversation about a social contract.

7. When I had stuff in a warehouse lockup many years ago. A large truck turned up with loads of guys waiting for it. As I drove through the security barrier a load of other guys poured in from the street. ( Police) Turns out I was in the middle of a major black market cigarette bust. They even arrested me. I had to show them my lock up before they would let me go. About 15 guys were in handcuffs sitting on the corridor floor. Crazy stuff. The boxes they were handling said IBM computers but inside were cigarettes.

8. Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.

   C.S. Lewis

9. Asking MPs to ignore lobbyists is like asking a baby not to cry. It’s futile and inevitable.

10. Banning smoking is a dumb move. If you ban this for health reasons what next?? You can argue the same for alcohol, gambling, fast food, vaping….the list can be endless depending on how picky you want to be and trying to say well this is less harmful because is a weak argument . Even New Zealand has rolled it’s smoking ban back so the UK would be the only “democracy” to do this

11. If the law was that this cut off would increase until 21 then I would be behind them.

    Telling a 43 year old they are too young to enjoy a vice that their 44 year old friend can? Nope. GTFO

    21 is more than old enough for you to fully understand the consequences.

12. Personally I find this whole thing and every form of it from the government disgusting.

    You can deliberate over semantics but the bottom line is they are taking away people’s freedom bit by bit, day by day.

    If someone wants to ruin their life by smoking it’s an individuals choice not the state to decide the fate of its ‘subjects’. I get the logic behind children’s freedoms being in the hands of parents. But as soon as you are able to decide for yourself you should be able to make your own choice.

    This by any other word should apply to anything in this world that an individual can do that does not affect another person. End of….

13. Come on guys, an elected government will always carry out the will of the people. Wait a minute…

14. How are we going to treat foreign nationals in this?
    For example – in 10 years time, what if a 18 y/o Frenchman pops over here for a week long break. Do we confiscate his cigs at border control? What if he brings in a whole 200 carton (the current limit for regular smokers) “so he doesn’t run out”. Is that trafficking?
    Im a former smoker. Gave up 15 years ago. Im **no friend** to the tobacco industry. It’s an offensive habit and I do want to see that industry destroyed.
    I just suspect this isnt the right way to go about it.

15. Can they ban non-biodegradable chewing gum? Shit is on the floor everywhere and is grim

16. The fact that Liz Truss is snarling about it suggests that the ban is probably a good thing.

17. He was an authoritarian when he was in charge during covid, but people were poo-poo’ed for pointing that out. And he’s an authoritarian now.

    The purpose of Government isn’t (or shouldn’t) to stop you from making poor decisions.

18. Ban alcohol, sugar, processed food and stress while you’re at it too

19. This comment perfectly sums up why politicians can’t just “listen to scientists”. Speaking as a scientist myself. Whitty’s only objective here is to improve public health and reduce the strain on the nhs as a result of the personal decision of members of the public. Politicians need to weigh concerns like this against the rights of citizens to do as they please with their own bodies, which is beyond the purview of medical professionals. 

    Similar comments can be made about covid lockdowns…

20. It would be more effective to increase the tax on cigarettes year on year -5% each year or something.
    Bans set a bad precedent, eroding freedoms etc, and invite rebellion – teens sticking it to the man or whatever.
    Tax increase is much less interesting, and many will find the habit too expensive to get into.

21. Total waste of time and money. “Banning” things has never worked, and likely never will

22. Some public health numbers for the debate:

    Smoking kills on average 79k in the UK each year

    300,000 years of life lost due to alcohol (2015)

    370,000 years of life lost due to smoking (2015)

    Staff are 33% more likely to be absent from work if they smoke

    Smoking costs employers £5.3 billion via absence and smoking breaks

23. Hey thanks for the downvotes , this isn’t Chris Wittys agenda ..this is what is being asked of him by the one and only WHO … I don’t even smoke but it’s a slow burn of our rights to do what we want , next it’s Alcohol, then it’s Sugar , then who knows what . I was a director of technology and digital in the Home Office throughout COVID and was part of the select committee task force .

24. Perhaps just remove NHS cover for lungs and circulatory issues for 6 months if you’re a smoker. Can still get cover but you have to pay for related treatment if a registered smoker (and can only buy cigarettes if you have registered the disclaimer)

    I mean the gov should not prevent people doing what they want as long as it doesn’t hurt others, the problem Is why should society pay for someone continuing to make terrible life choices.

25. Whatever your view on the ban, “I think you should ignore lobbying from the tobacco companies” is good advice.

    There are good reasons to support the current legislation and there are good reasons to oppose it. “Phillip Morris will pay for me to go on holiday if I vote the right way,” is not one of those reasons.

    So the people getting pissed off at Chris Whitty disagree? Do they think that MPs should allow themselves to be influenced by companies who would like to give more of us cancer so that they can turn a bigger profit?

26. Smoking simply isn’t going to be banned in this country.

27. So instead of (still harmful) legal cigarettes being bought and used by adults who are fully conscious of the consequences/risks and have made an elective decision, cigarettes will be put on the black market and potentially contain all sorts of corrosive, addictive synthetic substances. Great idea.

28. All these highly-paid, unelected people — so-called specialists — are hell-bent on taking people’s democratic rights away. Say NO to this ban! This ban is not intended to protect children — children are already protected under current legislation if only the laws were enforced — but to make a two-tier adulthood, in which some adults will be able to smoke and some not. This is nanny-statism at its worst. How dare these people take our rights away from us like this. Further, it must be said that Sunak was never elected into office as prime minister in the first place; rather, he was foisted on the nation by the élite. So, it is a question of an unelected, undemocratic prime minister taking away the people’s democratic rights. Don’t these people realise that smoking a cigarette is the least of our worries today? These days, young people are into soft and hard drugs. London is the cocaine capital of the world! In fact, it should also be said that many western nations are busy decriminalising cannabis for recreational use, so how much sense does it make for Sunak & Co to ban smoking in the UK for young adults when Canada, many states in the US, Luxembourg, Malta, and lately Germany have made the recreational use of cannabis legal. So this I must ask myself: Which planet do these people live on?

29. Ok no problem, ban smoking.

    But then you also have to ban fatty foods that provide little to no nutrients (shitty crisps, the batter in “chips and scraps” etc) because obesity is a far bigger killer and burden healthcare.