Smokers

I'm not a smoker myself (I discovered beer first as my main vice) but my wife is, much to my annoyance. Even so, not only is my wife entitled to choose whether to smoke or not, but the smoking ban has been devastating to the local pubs near me that I used to frequent, but now have closed. This doesn't seem to stop Labour's relentless attack on smokers' liberty:

Measures being considered include removing branding from packets and banning cigarette vending machines, as will happen in Scotland next year.

As is typical with this Labour government these measures have been announced before. What is interesting, however, is that, despite Gordon Brown's pledge to help small businesses, especially acute during this recession, he proposes more regulation in regard cigarettes which means it will be much harder for smaller businesses such as corner shops and newsagents to compete with the likes of Tesco who can absorb the costs. Now I wonder which Labour party Tesco's donate to the most?

Anyway it gives me a chance to play a great clip from Yes Prime Minister (oh how nothing changes)