Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Idiots without peers
It is hardly surprising that the House of Lords is on the verge of hammering another nail into its coffin. This time over the issue of smoking in public places. The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee has expressed concerns that MPs failed to consider evidence that passive smoking is more risky in the home.
I never got the subte undertone that the Bill was introduced to encourage people to go and smoke at home. It is, simply put, the biggest challenge to the public health status quo since the inception of the NHS. Arguments about personal liberty are banded around by Lord and Ladies clearly at the coalface of humanitarian altruism. Indeed. I find it an offense to my personal liberty, that the Government I voted for are being prevented from carrying out vital legislation by a bunch of pampered cronies, placemen and toffs (as the Daily Mirror editorial puts it)
Lord Wakeham, the Chair of this Lords Pipes, Bongs, Fags and Stogies Group (or something like that) believes the Government is too concerned with risk rather than an infringement of personal liberties. Now I disagree with that argument when it is used by Chakrabati and the sandal massive in relation to I.D Cards, but at least you can see where that argument is coming from. This is purely a ham-fisted, clumsy, reactive and ultimately predictable bit of delaying from an institution that is more out of touch with the people of the UK than Sven when he persisted in playing Emile Heskey.
I never got the subte undertone that the Bill was introduced to encourage people to go and smoke at home. It is, simply put, the biggest challenge to the public health status quo since the inception of the NHS. Arguments about personal liberty are banded around by Lord and Ladies clearly at the coalface of humanitarian altruism. Indeed. I find it an offense to my personal liberty, that the Government I voted for are being prevented from carrying out vital legislation by a bunch of pampered cronies, placemen and toffs (as the Daily Mirror editorial puts it)
Lord Wakeham, the Chair of this Lords Pipes, Bongs, Fags and Stogies Group (or something like that) believes the Government is too concerned with risk rather than an infringement of personal liberties. Now I disagree with that argument when it is used by Chakrabati and the sandal massive in relation to I.D Cards, but at least you can see where that argument is coming from. This is purely a ham-fisted, clumsy, reactive and ultimately predictable bit of delaying from an institution that is more out of touch with the people of the UK than Sven when he persisted in playing Emile Heskey.
