The Most Dangerous Man That Ever Lived....

LydiaJ

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

Consider the National Health Service Act 1946. The National Health Service has saved my life twice.
J_B.

Huge positive impact: tick
Low cost: no tick

Generali

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

Generali wrote:-




Consider the National Health Service Act 1946. The National Health Service has saved my life twice.
J_B.

Presumably even without the NHS, acute hospital care would be available.

You are right to say that the NHS has had a huge impact.

FTBFun

ILW wrote: »

I miss some of the old "traditional" places. They were a good place to meet up. Like Wetherspoons only smaller and not corporate.

People will never know what it was like to go for a game of darts etc now.

Surprisingly the gastropub-type one across the road from me has been closed down since November but the 3 traditional boozers are open and thriving. Admittedly though this is in London.

FTBFun

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

The smoking ban has been an unmitigated disaster.

One of the worst pieces of legislation ever for both the licensed trade and it's customers.

I disagree, IMO pubs are a considerably nicer place to be now that the lingering aroma of cigarette smoke isn't around. It's noticeable the difference when you visit places abroad where it is not banned.

Supermarkets selling alcohol as a loss leader is more likely to be the issue facing pubs. For instance, I picked up a case of 6 bottles of Bulmers for a fiver last week in Tesco (I still go to pubs btw before anyone starts!).

ILW

I would have been a great supporter of a voluntary smoking ban in pubs, or even a situation where a place could apply for a smoking license. Does seem rather odd that a business is banned from allowing it's customers to use a legal product on the premises by government.

PS: I stopped smoking a few years ago.

StevieJ

FTBFun wrote: »

Surprisingly the gastropub-type one across the road from me has been closed down since November but the 3 traditional boozers are open and thriving. Admittedly though this is in London.

In Chester the pub situation is improving, not neccessarily in numbers but certainly in quality (real ale, live music etc).

chewmylegoff

Generali wrote: »

Presumably even without the NHS, acute hospital care would be available.

You are right to say that the NHS has had a huge impact.

You could argue that the specific way that NHS was created has actually been damaging, as if, instead of it, we had a public/private model as operated in many other countries it would probably be cheaper, more efficient and have better outcomes, and we probably wouldn't have this entrenched national view that anyone who wants to reform the "national treasure" of the NHS which is the "envy of the world" is evil.

StevieJ

FTBFun wrote: »

I disagree, IMO pubs are a considerably nicer place to be now that the lingering aroma of cigarette smoke isn't around. It's noticeable the difference when you visit places abroad where it is not banned.

I can honestly say that I have not heard one person (in real life) complain about the smoking ban, the smokers seem quite happy that it has cut down their intake. Maybe we should open up some good ole 19th century Opium dens to keep Hamish and ILW happy

StevieJ

ILW wrote: »

I miss some of the old "traditional" places. They were a good place to meet up. Like Wetherspoons only smaller and not corporate.

People will never know what it was like to go for a game of darts etc now.

I am not with you on that, those places still exist where I live, just don't stink as much.

chewmylegoff

As a part-time smoker, I quite like the smoking ban. It's quite nice, especially when you're somewhere busy, to get outside and have a bit of a break for 5 mins every now and then.

I went to bruges a while back and you can still smoke in some bars there (also strangely in france where i was sure it was banned you seemed to be able to in certain places). it was horrible, and i still just went outside for a smoke instead of having it in there.

I don't know anyone who thinks the smoking ban is a bad idea either, and i'm not sure quite what sort of person would refuse to go to a pub just because they had to go outside for 5 mins every now and then. It's like saying you're not going to the pub because you have to get up and walk over to the other side of the pub to use the toilet, instead of being able to p!ss on the floor under your table.