ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531

ASH Daily News

1 December 2005

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

Pub chain calls partial ban 'laughable'

MP speaks out against the partial smoking ban

Money saved by quitting could help in retirement


FULL TEXT

Pub chain calls partial ban 'laughable'


All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers has called the government proposal to ban smoking in pubs serving food as "retrograde" and "ridiculous" and said it would fail if introduced.

"If this laughable proposal were to go through, it would be commercially advantageous for us to take the food out at 400 pubs and revert to a drinking and smoking offer only," said chief executive Tim Clarke.

"That's the last thing in the world we want to do and this just shows how ridiculous the proposal is. It's not a threat; it's just the reality of the stupidity behind the proposal."

The company, which has been moving many of its establishments towards food-led pubs, believes such a ban would collapse if introduced. So far in the current financial year Mitchells & Butlers pubs have for the first time been selling more food than beer.

"We certainly think that the food-based ban proposal is very retrograde indeed," said Mr Clarke. "We don't believe this food-based ban has any chance of lasting any period of time should it pass through the House of Commons."

Daily Telegraph 1/12/05 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/12/01/cnmnb01.xml

Also reported in The Guardian 1/12/05

About 20% of Mitchells & Butler's (M&B) 2,000 pubs, mainly in less affluent areas of the Midlands and north of England, would ditch food, Tim Clarke Chief Executive Officer said.

Food represents less than 10% of sales at these sites, typically in areas where smoking is more common. "The profitability of these places would go up. That is what is so terrible about this proposal - we would be commercially advantaged." But M&B's long-term focus remains on food-led pubs in residential areas.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,16781,1654491,00.html




MP speaks out against the partial smoking ban


Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington writes an opinion piece for the Evening Standard on the proposed smokefree legislation.

"I am in favour of a total ban on smoking in public places. And happily I share that opinion with Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nursing, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and a great many backbench Labour MPs.

Most of those who argue that people should have the right to smoke - any place, any time - would not dream of a "right" to take heroin. But, as the Royal College of Physicians points out, nicotine is just as addictive as heroin and cocaine. And, in terms of numbers affected, it causes much more damage to health. Cigarette smoking is the single largest preventable cause of premature death and illness in the United Kingdom. Smoking - related diseases cause 120,000 deaths a year - around a fifth of the total annual deaths in the UK. At least half of smokers will die prematurely from diseases caused by their habit.

At this point, dedicated smokers reading this article will stir, cough up some horrible yellow mucus, and mutter that if they want to kill themselves that is their business.

True enough, but should the rest of us have to pay for their pleasure? The treatment of smoking-related diseases costs the National Health Service £1.5 billion a year. That is a lot of money for the taxpayer to find so that a minority can enjoy waking up with a wheezing cough.

There is also the question of 'passive' smoking. Smokers in clubs, bars and other public places put the rest of us at risk. In 2004, the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health revealed that secondhand smoke was responsible for an estimated 24% increased risk in lung cancer in nonsmokers and 23% excess risk of heart disease. Children and babies exposed to secondhand smoke at home had an increased risk of pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma attacks and ear infections.

At this point, my smoker readers will stir themselves again and say that smoking is the only pleasure some poor working-class people have and that it is somehow elitist to ban it. It is true that disproportionate numbers of working-class people smoke. But you might as well say it was elitist to bring a proper sewage system to the slums of Victorian England. Smoking kills, just as raw sewage caused thousands of preventable deaths from cholera and typhoid in the 19th century, and politicians have a responsibility to do something about it.

The Republic of Ireland had successfully brought in a total ban. The Scottish Parliament is bringing in a ban. English MPs will even be asked to vote for a total ban in Northern Ireland. The Government's proposed partial ban is a silly half-measure, thought up with a view to the next day's headlines, rather than the long-term health of the nation."

Evening Standard 30/11/05



Money saved by quitting could help in retirement


Shelagh Hamer stopped smoking and started putting her savings from not buying cigarettes into an account for her six-year-old son's future. Shelagh finds it easier to pay bills since she quit on New Year's Day 2004. As well as setting aside £100 a month more than she use to, she is also looking forward to a health dividend.

Shelagh took out life insurance whilst still a smoker and she expects to pay a lower premium when her policy comes up for renewal next year. Someone aged 40, smoking around 20 cigarettes a day and who quits could save a retirement fund of £73, 400. With cigarette packets costing £5, the smoker spends about £1,800 per year. Put that money into a pension plan with annual growth of 5% and they will build a healthy retirement fund.

Vicky Burns of insurer NFU says "A major incentive to give up smoking should be recognition of what else you could do with that money."

Smokers are penalised by insurance companies as they are seen to be at higher risk of serious illness or death and pay more for critical illness and life cover. Most insurers insist that smokers must have quit for 12 months before they are considered to be nonsmokers. However, smokers who have quit should get their policies reviewed as they may find their premiums greatly reduced.

The Mail on Sunday 27/11/05


---------------------------------
Unsubscribe:

Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------


Sarah Ward
Information Manager
Action on Smoking & Health (ASH)
102 Clifton Street
London
EC2A 4HW

Tel: 020 7739 5902
Fax: 020 7613 0531
e-mail: sarah.ward@ash.org.uk
web: http://www.ash.org.uk
map: http://uk2.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?pc=EC2A4HW