No apartheid in smoking
The crucial vote on whether to ban smoking in all public places looks set for 14 February. And, if the direst warnings from some pub leaders
are to be believed, the result will be a modern
St Valentine's Day massacre of thousands of innocent licensees.
But which result is that? A total ban? A ban but not for clubs? Or a ban just for food pubs?
The truth is that none of these results is uniformally good for all pubs. The best result - allowing pubs smoking rooms - is just not on the radar at Westminster, however much we would all like it, and however much the ALMR and BII insists it's still politically possible. The other results will each hurt some licensees, depending on their customer base. And that's what's made the whole smoking debate so difficult for the trade and its leaders.
But now, as the clock approaches midnight, previous positions are being abandoned and unusual alliances with medics formed. This is not hypocrisy or inconsistency. It is practical politics. For only by linking with former opponents can the trade convince Government to allow clubs to suffer alongside pubs. To allow them an exemption would be so damaging and unfair that pub leaders must call for what even just months ago would have been unthinkable - a universal ban.
They are right to do so. The 20,000 members clubs in England and Wales must operate along the same lines as our pubs. If they do not, the Government will have created an explosive situation that could tear
communities apart in many regions of the country.
The trade must now switch its focus to persuading Government that only a total ban is fair - and that it cannot be implemented for at least two years.
Any quicker and thousands of licensees will suffer major economic hardship.
As our columnist John Grogan suggests today, every licensee should let his MP know the score. However much it hurts to lose the right to smoke in this "free" country, it would hurt even more if we found a smoking apartheid forced upon us to help Labour keep sweet with its friends in clubland.
