How to dig holes !
Rob Layton

If you want to know how to dig a hole to bury yourself in you, should be watching the Labour party right now.
The people who supported the smoke ban within the labour party are even beginning to realise what a huge mistake it was.
Robbing people of holidays, a night out in pubs,or clubs or any other attack on civil liberty's is not a way to win the hearts and minds of any society.

The Labour party machine has been so effective in silencing the voice of smokers on this issue, that they have now realised that the same tactics maybe used against themselves someday.

The Stalinist type tactics used to impose and enforce this smoke ban has rebounded on them, for the people that they have marginalised, cannot even say why they voted against the Labour party for fear of the stigma that smokers feel when they speak up for their rights these days.
Smokers have been demonised, marginalised and discriminated against on such a vast scale that their apathy has now turned to anger.

How then can the Labour party gauge the depth of public opinion to find out if the smoke ban effected the Local election and Mayoral election votes ?
Any voter of any political colour can see that on the smoke ban issue alone, that such a flawed policy such as this, highlight's not only the incompetence of Labour legislation on this issue, but a failure to recognise and rectify the mistake of using such totalitarian tactics on its core voters.

There are many other sections of society that the Labour Government have used this tactic on, and this has been a step to far.
People have woken to the fact that the only effect way to hurt the Government: is to hit back at the ballot box.

If you look back at what I said weeks ago on this subject, you will see that on this, and other blogs, that I predicted what would happen at the polls correctly.
This does not make me a political genius, or a psychic, it makes me a good judge of human behaviour.

The Labour party and any other party's who fail to take the smoke ban factor into account, does so at its own political peril.
In digging this hole for themselves, they should try to stop burying themselves by amending this ban to be fairer to all, and by allowing smoking, and non smoking pubs and clubs.
Failure to do so will see a party that you don't want elected being put into power as a huge protest vote cast against a perceived undemocratic authoritarian Government.
On your head be it Labour !

Rob Layton.