SUBMISSION BY TAYBANK MANAGEMENT SERVICES

I write this letter in response to your bill to ban smoking in pubs that sell food with the threat of a fine of £1000 for non compliance.

This is a disgraceful and ill thought through bill especially in Scotland with it's many rural communities and I would on behalf of my customers urge you to think long and hard about it's content, please consider a country or village Inn some miles from its neighbour and on a Friday! Saturday evening the local farm workers and others gather for an evening of community get together, half of these people are smokers and half are not, we have a good filtration system installed at considerable cost (which will under your bill become redundant, compensation ???) take away the rights of the smokers to have their much loved and needed ciggie in this local and the non smokers will still come but my survey shows that of the smokers only 25% would bother to still come down to the pub, preferring instead to sit at home with their cheap carry out as they would feel like pariahs having to nip outside regularly to have a puff while in company, think also of the mess that would be made outside each pub with cigarette litter by the 25% who still decided it would be worth the effort to support their local, Nay Mr Maxwell there are many more pressing issues to be dealt with before a total ban on smoking is enforced and have you asked yourself about the cost of policing it, imagine the scenario, the local police get a call that a customer refuses to put his cigarette out in a rural pub, they have to attend, meanwhile some old lady is being mugged or someone is being assaulted and there is nobody available to attend as they have responded to the earlier call and are busy filling out the necessary reams of paperwork, please get your priorities right.

If we are to have a totally healthy society with everyone living to 100 imagine the knock on effect, catastrophe !, Pollution from vehicles is way, way, way above that from cigarettes and no doubt you jump in your car regularly and pollute the air that I want to breathe while out for a walk in the country, but nobody is trying to ban you from driving on the roads that I use. Let's get real and have our politicians lead the way in .more important .issues and when they are resolved q then we can consider Issues like banning cigarettes In public houses, after all most of us have got prominently displayed signage stating our policy on smoking and if a non smoker chooses not to enter the premises that is their right and should suffice.

WE ARE GETTING TOO WRAPPED UP IN POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND WHAT ALL THE MINORITIES WANT.

Yours sincerely,

W G Keenan