Do you feel alienated?

This is a copy of an advertisement printed in yesterday’s Hull Daily Mail, paid for by the NHS.

IF YOU are somebody who regularly lights up a cigarette, you may feel   alienated.

It is habit that may cause you to be shunned or avoided by friends, family and colleagues and leave you feeling left-out. The smoking ban has made you change your ways, while everybody else has been unaffected and free to enjoy their social lives as before.

A new Government strategy called A Smokefree Future has been published and it could lead to a ban of cigarettes in vending machines and increase the number of smoke-free areas to include doorways, adding to your sense of  seclusion.

It is just the latest development in a long line of initiatives that make you feel like you are being harshly treated and that everybody is against you.

But there's one thing you must ask yourself: Are you really the victim? Consider  the issue from a non-smoker's point of view. When they enter a bar, restaurant or even a hospital, there may be a smoker standing in the doorway, meaning the non-smoker has to walk through a cloud of noxious smoke to enter.
And when you throw your your cigarette ends out of car window do you stop to consider pedestrians, cyclists or even a person in a convertible car?

Cigarette ends also litter the streets - about 40 per cent of litter is tobacco related - which doesn't give a good impression to visitors to the city and each cigarette butt takes about 12 years to decompose, so smoking is not environmentally-friendly either.

There is also the criminality issue that surrounds smoking. That cheap packet of fags you purchased illegally could be a part of a world-wide illicit cigarette trade that brings misery to people around the world. And the knock-on effect brings crime into Hull.

With two sides to every story, it is perhaps time to stop alienating yourself and  start to protect the people and city around you.

It’s not too late to act and switch sides. If you want to quit smoking, free support is available with your local NHS Stop Smoking Service.

Research shows people are four times more likely to quit smoking with support from the  service than willpower alone and it offers a method of quitting to suit you.

For more details, free phone 0800 915 5959; visit www.readytostop smoking.co.uk or text QUIT to 81800.

Smokers know smoking is bad for their health. They also know it is more addictive than heroin. Would heroin addicts be insulted in the same way? It will also not succeed in its aim of getting people to quit. If someone spoke to me like that, it would make me more likely to light-up a cigarette. Yet the NHS adopts this appalling Big Brother stance and wastes taxpayers’ cash in the process.

Next time you hear of someone denied life enhancing drugs on cost grounds, remember this advert. The person who wrote it should hang their head in shame; and get fired too.

Bridlington Off-Licence introduces fingerprint scanners

The improper use of biometrics is a little known, but very worrying growth industry. When organisations such as Microsoft and Cisco are concerned, we should all be.

An off-licence in Bridlington has installed a fingerprint scanning machine to ascertain the age of customers who wish to purchase alcohol and cigarettes. First you go in, with either your passport or driving licence to verify your age. Then, if you want to, you can have your thumbprint taken and stored on the shop’s database.

Any hacker who knows what they are doing (and unfortunately there are too many of them around) will be able to steal this information. Your collar may be felt by the police for a crime you didn’t commit, simply because someone has your thumbprint on their computer which they can reproduce and leave at the scene of a crime.

Couple this with the fact a criminal will also have sensitive personal information about you, the scope for fraud is immense. All of these risks to stop a 17 year-old from buying a can of lager. It’s simply not worth it.

I have recorded an interview which will be broadcast on BBC Look North tonight explaining some of the dangers. My advise to anyone thinking of handing over their biometric details voluntarily is: DON’T! Use your passport instead. It is a recognised form of identification and it displays the minimum amount of personal information about you.

I will keep you all updated on this story when there are more developments.

UPDATE:  Here is the full report on BBC Look North, ending with an interview from Alex Deane, Director of Big Brother Watch.

 

Harman scuppers Commons reform. My response and the response from a TPA branch member

There is something very undemocratic about the way the executive holds sway in our legislature. Surely the elected representatives of the people should have more power to hold the executive to account? Yes it should, but in reality, this seldom happens.

If anything remotely contentious is wending its way through parliament, you can guarantee the government will at some stage use a guillotine motion to stifle debate and therefore scrutiny. The power of the whips remains supreme in appointing members of select committees. You have to be a good boy or girl if you want to get on and hold any position of influence. If you are a maverick, life will be very hard for you.

Ben Farrugia highlights in this article how once again reform of the House of Commons is going to be blocked by the government. Changes that could and would have made a difference to democracy in this country will not happen in the lifetime of this parliament because of a procedural trick played by Harriet Harman.

Ben describes this as a complete and utter disgrace. He is right. One day this country will become a democracy again, instead of an elected dictatorship.

TPA member, Julie Fisk, has written to both Harriet Harman and Labour chief whip, Nick Brown. She is hopping mad, as you will be able to see, and this letter expresses the frustration of many people I have spoken to. When will the so-called ‘elite’ ever learn?

Dear Madam and Sir

You are both a disgrace.  I have just read about your disgraceful intentions in The Times, i.e.

“The Government has decided to table an “unamendable order” — which will mean that an objection from a single MP will prevent any of the measures from being introduced. This is almost certain to happen since there is a hardcore minority against the proposals.”

How dare you! You are both SERVANTS of the British People – you are NOT Masters.

Please understand that. – The public were appalled by the MP’s Expenses Scandal and all parties agreed that there was a need for reform.

What does it take to get through to you that the British public are sick and tired of your pathetic excuses? Wake up! Do we need a revolution to get through to you just how you are viewed by the majority of us?

I have never marched or held a protest banner in my life – but I can tell you now that I will be on of the first people in queue to rid our parliament of unscrupulous people like you.

You disgust me.

Julie Fisk

Virtual Farewell Booths

I was interviewed by Peter Levy on BBC Radio Humberside yesterday about funding for proposed Virtual Farewell Booths at airports. For more about this ridiculous waste of taxpayers' money, read this report from the Daily Mail.

Outraged by Albert's removal from his round? Contact the council and tell them what you think

From Big Brother Watch:

Yesterday, Dylan wrote about the disgraceful way binman Albert Stewart has been treated by Ormskirk Council - moved from his route for picking up rubbish left beside bins, i.e. exercising a bit of common sense and doing his job well.

I've just written to the relevant Council Officer to express my displeasure, and I thought that you might wish to do so too:

Pat Burgess
Refuse and Recycling Manager
Tel: 01695 577177 ext.5432

pat.burgess@westlancs.gov.uk

 

I know this is not in our area, but I think it is a case worth highlighting and taking action on.

 

Apologise, Cllr Inglis, it was all your fault

The Big Screen debate in Hull still continues to rage, according to the Hull Daily Mail. I have been debating with Cllr Colin Inglis, although he doesn’t regard it as debating. He regards it as banging his head against a brick wall, as he tries to (as far as I’m concerned) defend the indefensible. 

Click HERE to read my latest letter published in the Hull Daily Mail. It was published on Monday January 4.

IPSA waters down Kelly’s recommendations

Last November, Sir Christopher Kelly published his report into reforming MPs’ expenses and allowances. The main party leaders agreed to implement Sir Christopher’s recommendations in full. You could be forgiven for thinking this was the end of the matter. Not so.

A consultation exercise starts today by the new quango set-up to regulate MPs. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is asking for your views, even though you have given them already. You have made it clear you want tighter regulation of the allowances and expenses MPs get. You have made it clear you want MPs to sell their second homes and if they make a capital gain, it should be returned to the taxpayer.  It seems though you will have to make your views known again.

Please go to IPSA’s website and fill out the questionnaire and give your MPs a clear message (again).