Well Blairs government has done it again! what was probably a well intentioned law has far reaching consequences. I am a smoker but I can understand that non-smokers would like the opportunity to visit a pub and find it smokefree. I can live with that, people should be able to enhoy going to a pub or a club and not feeling like an ashtray when they leave. However the new regulation due to come into effect later this year does not specifically apply to On-licensed premises (Pubs, Clubs, Restuarants etc.) but to all Licensed premises. In other words the law will apply to Off-licenses as well, this affects far more than most people realise. The assumption that people will not be smoking on the shop floor of an offlicence is not quite correct, most places would not see their staff smoking on the shopfloor anyway but may have a designated area for the smokers to enjoy a quick break.

As many people in the UK seem unaware Offlicenses are not restricted to wine-merchants, Supermarkets have a Premises License (assuming they sell alcohol) as do many other retail outlets, what results is a mass discrimination against workers all over the country who will be unable to have a cigarette on the premises. Assuming that companies run the policy that we run (One member of staff requests the workplace be smokefree and smoking is banned) it is totally unnecessary to be banning smoking in off-licensed premises.

I can see three possibles routes for this addition to the act, either it will not be enforced at all, in which case its very existences was a waste of taxpayers money.

2) Secondly a lot of people will give up smoking, the government will then lose out on a very large amount of tax. This in all likelihood will mean we see an income tax rise, or finally

3) A lot of Licensed premises will lose their license for as simple an issue as a customer not putting their cigarette out before entering the premises.

Whatever the outcome it bodes well for no-one, the government included. It is also worth mentioning that the houses of parliament (among others) will be exempt (There are about 19 bars in the Houses of Parliament) on the grounds that The Houses of Parliament are exempt from the licensing act because of National Security.

If the government wish to pass such a wide-ranging law they should at least deign to be affected by it.

And for those of you thinking well I'll just stand outside the shop, it is up to the local council whether or not to permit or ban smoking in the street (They already have that power as far as I know).

Once again Blairs government has not thought about the consequences of a law that is being passed, and we will all suffer for it!