FEATURE
THEY ’ RE DEADLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS
UKIP Wales wants to turn the clock back to when smoking was still legal in pubs
Words : Gordon Stribling
It ’ s strange to recall just how different life was before the smoking ban of 2007 . Which is perhaps why it ’ s so jarring to see people smoking on screen in TV shows set in the smoke-cloaked past . Walk into a pub on any given evening and you ’ d be hit with a wall of smoke that would follow you back out the door and stick to you like an ashy shower curtain .
But now , UKIP Wales wants to bring that all back in the name of personal freedom .
UKIP Wales leader , Neil Hamilton , said : “ UKIP believes in freedom of choice . Freedom not to drink in smoke-filled rooms but also freedom to smoke if others are not inconvenienced . That ’ s the free society we believe Wales should strive to be .
“ Individuals should decide for themselves what risks they run in life - whether smoking , free-fall parachute jumping , or being bored to death by a Mark Drakeford speech .”
Hamilton made the comments in the run-up to the Welsh general election due to be held on May 6 , Covid-permitting .
So what exactly is UKIP proposing ?
Pubs would be allowed to create designated ‘ smoking rooms ’. These were a common sight in workplaces prior to the smoking ban , with branded ashtrays on tables between the yellow-tinged walls .
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