The UK government, apparently, is going to tackle loneliness

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...for just elderly people. Wow, is my life screwed up? I guess statistically the older a person is the more lonely they're likely to become... but if so what kind of a minority within a minority am I? I can't even keep up the count.

How about repealing the smoking ban in pubs and bars and lowering the rate of taxation and duty on alcoholic drinks and tobacco?

That would help to cure quite a bit of it.

That would probably cause more expense to the already cash-strapped NHS. I understand that many people feel smoking is an emotional crutch, but it's a lifestyle choice causing severe illness, not an illness that you got without having knowingly done anything to cause it. Why should cases of non self-inflicted illness have longer waiting lists and less money for needed health care because smokers cost the NHS so much. The answer is to address the reason people smoke not just tax it higher.

Putting a lot of smokers in bars and pubs doesn't address the issue of loneliness. You'd just have smoking loners propping up bars. And if they are drowning their sorrows and full of angst, there is a high chance they will behave anti-socially once alcohol has removed their inhibitions.

Society has broken down, that is why there are so many lonely people out there, young and old.

People with AS are lonely because of society's failures to address the inherent needs and understand our differences.

How does a government even measure loneliness? I know the UK is known for its radical social engineering, but still, this seems like an exercise in chasing phantoms.

Loneliness? That's just a myth. Like god and similar derangement.

How can old ppl be lonely - thats ridiculous. You meet loads of ppl as you get older. Get out there and go down the pub.

And other such useless pieces of information that ppl give you when you tell them you dont know anyone.

Not everyone enjoys lonliness.



What if you have mobility issues?

What if you can't drive and don't have a bus?

Bringing back the smoking ban is just going to drive us non-smokers away from pubs and bars. Surely, I have a right to go somewhere and not have to breathe in someone's dirty habit? It's bad enough in the street.

Pubs are closing at the fastest rate in British history. They were closing anyway but the smoking ban has massively increased that trend as many smokers have simply deserted pubs.

Smokers will be inside the pub and not bothering people outside. The smoking ban has made people less safe (think about the women who have to leave their drinks in the bar because it's illegal to take them outside), more ostracised (it's drawn a wedge between those that smoke and those that don't) and less free (the licensee cannot choose to serve people or not).

These are private businesses. If you don't like smoky bars, simply don't visit them. There are lots of pubs I don't like and don't want to spend much time in; I simply avoid them or walk out if I don't like the look of them.

In fact, I can see quite a few pubs and bars choosing to keep the smoking ban in place if they make more money out of keeping the ban rather than removing it for their bars.

It's worth noting that in several European countries, these bans (many of which are less strict than the UK ones) are so unpopular that they're simply ignored and people carry on as normal and the police don't interfere.

I favour lower taxation on cigarettes (the present cost of UK-legal cigarettes is obscene and it's a reason why importation and smuggling is becoming more and more popular - a packet of 200 cigarettes in the Canary Islands is £20; in the UK it's £75) and a more liberal social policy on alcohol and pubs.

Isn't that a good thing?

But what about non-smokers being ostracized from pubs and bars that allowed smoking? We should have the right to visit them too, without breathing in life endangering smoke.

I don't agree it's unsafe for women, most women would be with a companion as it's a brave woman who drinks alone in a pub, and the companion would guard their drink whilst they are outside smoking. They are only standing outside the doorway to have their cigarette so that isn't hugely unsafe.

There are so many times I've been prevented eating in restaurants because I either cannot sit outside for billowing cigarette smoke at nearby tables or the front being open and the smoke billowing inside. It's offensive, a health risk and unacceptable.

The trouble is, smokers have a very dulled sense of smell due to their habit, they don't realise (and many don't seem to care) how awful it is for others whose sense of smell is working fully, to have to endure it. It's a toxic substance.

Joe90, it is if you're 80. Get what I mean? Somehow it doesn't occur to most people that age doesn't matter in such issues.

I say that anyone over the age of 65 should legally be allowed to smoke or ingest a weekly allowance of Cannabis Sativa. This would accomplish many things:

1. Pensioners would be more mellow and less likely to complain about every little thing.

2. Grandchildren would actually enjoy being around their grandparents.

3. The appetites of elderly people would be increased, they would eat more, and thus be healthier.

There may be other advantages, but I haven't thought of them yet.

Last edited by Fnord on 22 Nov 2012, 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm sorry....I just don't quite get what this thread is about and who's on who's side.

Many people have used the smoking ban as an opportunity to give up. And the people who still smoke are united by the need to go outside, huddled together in their sad little self help groups.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/More-smokers-in-Ireland-since-2004-smoking-ban-112121644.html

Whoops.