Chris Maclean: Let's forget about the smoking ban

A trip to Brussels where people are still allowed to smoke in bars did not have me yearning for the "good old days" of smoking in pubs.

Writing this from my hotel room in Brussels seems a little pretentious. But a bargain few days away, in the city where much of the legislation we licensees have to endure, seemd too good an opportunity to miss.

Brussels is a beautifully clean city and home to the EEC, NATO and its own Belgian government. It is unmistakably European but somehow it feels above that. It is as though it feels it doesn't really have to stoop to the levels of other European citizens.

I pass construction workers wearing no safety gear; no high visibility clothing, no protective goggles or gloves, cutting stone and metal unprotected. I walk along footpaths with obstacles, holes and hazards inconceivable here. There is a complete absence of health and safety warnings. Risks abound. I've yet to see a cyclist wearing a helmet. Very odd.

But I'm here, with my wife, to sample the cafes, bars and culture that is Belgium. This is a country that prides itself on its beers and there are bars that stock over two thousand different ones. Thats some dedication.

We have tried many bars but two distinct things are emerging.

Firstly the bars that seem most popular, and it isn't always apparent from the outside, seem to be the classic old fashioned bars that have preserved their heritage. Brussels is blessed with a huge number of traditional bars, particularly in the centre, which many guide books describe as fin de siecle​ - end of the century. Bars from around the bel epoche of the 1890's.

Yes, they all have epos machines and modern facilities but they retain almost all their original character. Staff wear uniforms. There is an unmistakable pride in their tradition. Interestingly I note the bars that seem to have failed are the new ones; bars that have followed trends, created styles and emerged into new environments only to now be withering away.

The second observation is that, in typical Brussels style, smoking is permitted in some bars. It doesn't seem universal. One bar owner told me it was permissable in bars without food but that there was every liklihood it would be outlawed within the year.

So how was it to take a trip down memory lane? To be in a bar where smokers and non-smokers rubbed shoulders?

Frankly? Disgusting.

From someone who, only five years ago, smoked 50 cigarettes a day and who enjoyed the company of smokers the realisation was that from the twenty minutes exposure to a smoky environment means I am now sitting here with clothes that stink and with sore eyes. Maybe I developed a tolerance before. I certainly don't have it now.

There is no doubt, in my mind, that Belgian smokers know that their days are numbered. In light of other countries' positions their stance is less and less tenable. But even so, in a country where smoking is so much part of their culture, there is also a feeling that even if the change came through legislation many bars would have stopped voluntarily. There was no evidence whatsoever that smoking bars were more popular than non-smoking bars. Indeed the evidence I saw would be to the contrary.

Last year, in a blog, I wagered a hundred pounds on the chances of the smoking ban being lifted within a year. No one took on my challenge.

This year I'll increase it. I will bet £1000 that the English smoking ban will still be in place in July 2010. If anyone seriously believes to the contrary, and is prepared to take my wager, then they deserve the right to continue the debate. But for the others, who continue bleating about a piece of dead history, please give it a rest.

The smoking ban will never be overturned. I, for one, am glad. I doubt I could keep up with the laundry bill.