'PC' BBC ignoring Harold Wilson's pipe in five-hour tribute

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I'm not really surprised, considering how readily the BBC completely regurgitate the propaganda of the anti-smoking wowsers.

speaking as an asthmatic, I am an 'anti smoking wowser' for health reasons.

But, AFAIK, smoking doesn't directly cause your asthma. It just makes an already pre-existing condition worse, amirite?

And I'm not referring to people like yourself - but more the professional, publicly-funded anti-smoking organisations.

I understand people not liking smoking, particularly if they're asthmatic. However, I think it's not really acceptable when people allow their own personal preferences to dictate what others do.

what people do behind their own doors is their own business and their own prerogative but as for banning smoking in public places and work areas, the government made the right call.

If undermining smoking culture reduces the amount of referrals for cancer and other smoking related ailments then that in my mind is a good thing.

Smoking isn't banned in public places. It's not illegal to smoke outside.

So you agree with banning smoking in ALL pubs, even though these places are private property (and even to the extent of having a spiteful enclosed outdoor smoking policy)? And even if the pub has air cleaners that clean the air to a higher standard than the air you breathe outside?

I'm old enough to remember going into pubs and restaurants pre-smoking ban and the air content made me wretch. The outside air content depends on the location of the pub but only with the exception of inner city nightclubs could i imagine that the air content would be anything approaching a hot box of nicotine. Its not just about protecting the customers but also the rights of the staff who work there.

I'm anti-smoking, a former 20-40 a day ciggy addict (20 years ago). However, what I dislike about the BBC's attitude is that of trying to rewrite history. Wilson was never seen without his pipe, it was part of his image etc. The BBC seems to be getting more and more PC and using rose-tinted specs to the extent they are no longer a reliable source of unbiased information. The BBC used to be world renowned for the quality and truthfulness of its various broadcasts. Since moving to France and seeing much less censorship; it is clear just how far the BBC has slipped from its once lofty ideals.

I was going to draw a parallel to another PPR topic on BBC censorship, but hyperlexian would probably just censor me.



You big meanie...

Exactly. Anyone who knows anything much about Harold Wilson knows that his pipe smoking was an integral part of his public image. They'll probably do the same with Churchill next.

They're trying to censor the attributes that made historical public figures what they were and I think it's an absolute disgrace.

People who smoke should do it in private. It is the polite thing to do.

ruveyn

Or in pubs, cafés and private member's clubs that specifically cater to them... oh, no, they can't do that, because the anti-smoking zealots have banned it.

Fortunately, many European countries have been a bit more sane about smoking regulations.

The wife and me have had to walk out of numerous pubs in the UK in the past due to the smoke. We've also left pubs after finishing the main part of a pub meal and skipped desert solely due to inconsiderate stinky smokers lighting up on a table next to us. Aside from the stink of cigarettes and the secondary damage they cause to other people's health, she suffers from a medical lung condition which is aggravated by smoke anyway. The problem of other people smoking effectively drove us out of UK pubs prior to the smoking ban. The pubs lost our custom due to the smoke. Smoking is a filthy habit and harmful to the health not only the smokers but other people who have to put up with it too.

"Mind if I smoke?"... "pfft... mind if I fart?"

But many pubs have simply lost the trade of these smokers too since the ban. The anti-smoking lobby endlessly went on about the legions of non-smokers that would go to pubs after the smoking ban... but these people never turned up. So pubs have lost many of their customers to satisfy people who probably would not be in there every night (or at all) anyway.

We americans have to wrestle with revelations like: Thomas Jefferson having a child out of wedlock by one his slaves.


But the BBC shelters adults in Britian from knowing that one of your prime ministers: was a PIPE SMOKER!

Jeeze!

Do adults in Britain know that there is no tooth fairy?

And the irony is that much of the time Wilson might not even been actually smoking it- it may have been just a prop.

Here there was a bit of row over the school system censoring a blues music exhibit. A large blowup of a wellk known photo of the Fourties blues guitarist T-bone Walker was photoshopped so that the big cigarette dangling from his mouth had magically vanished. But atleast that thing was aimed a school children so that fakery might have been a little justifiable.

Probably not; they wouldn't dare broadcast that in case any sensitive children were listening.

All I can say is that comparing French broadcasts with those in the UK; British television is heavily censored. Everything from movies to documentaries to news broadcasts are all cut down and made so even an aged spinster mother superior in a nunnery could watch them without raising an eyebrow. Wars are fought without bloodshed. Nobody dies of starvation. Everyone s**ts little poos wrapped up in pink ribbons.

French news coverage is more concerned about showing what is really happening. British news coverage is more concerned that little children don't get upset while eating their TV dinner while the "news" is on.

I think two other important factors have helped to kill of British pubs. Granted the smoking ban had driven some smokers away and the number of non-smokers who have been enticed as a result maybe doesn't equal the loss. However, IMO, the biggest problem is that of cost. In my youth I often went to the local pubs in the evening, especially Friday and Saturday evening and spent quite a bit, had a good time with my friends then went on for food afterwards... fish & chips, Chinese, Indian etc. However, since those days the price of beer has sky rocketed. I was horrified how much a pint of beer cost the last time I visited England. How can anyone afford to have several pints at those prices? What do people do nowadays - sit sipping the same drink all night trying to look cheerful?

The second biggest issue to hit pubs is the shift in public mentality that drink driving is not OK. In my youth it was commonplace. There was no social stigma associated with drink driving. The only thing wrong with it was getting caught! Since those heady days the general public have become more sensible and acknowledge that it is not socially acceptable to drive while drunk as the chances of an accident and hurting other innocent people is so much greater. The police are also more stringent too as are the law courts and penalties. Consequently you've got to use increasingly non-existent public transport, pay lots of dosh for a cab to pick you all up and take you all home, or have a nominated sober driver... how many people want to sit sipping coke all night while their friends are merry and having a good time?

So while the smoking ban has had some negative impact on pubs, IMO the biggest culprits are the highly inflated price of drinks and the clampdown and shift in public attitude regarding drink driving.