What can one say ?
Rob Layton

What can one say ?
Nothing, is the answer.
Looking at the news: it goes from bad to worse.
This country is virtually on its knees, and what can we say, nothing.
They have gagged us with either political correctness, legislation or who knows what they are capable of, if we tell it ,as it is.

The point is; we all know where the problems lye, but if we speak up we are labeled 'Grumpy old men' (another form of gagging)
It seems the only people who are left unprotected by law is ,Grumpy old men.
It seems that everything that is right in society has been made to seem wrong, and everything that is wrong made to seem right.
if you believe in the Bible you could say another sign of the end times was upon us.

I suppose you could have called most of the prophets 'Grumpy old men' most of them were outcasts, Moses was for definite.
I suppose when Noah told folks about what was going to happen he got much the same reaction as we 'Grumpy old men' get today.

Grumpy old men are not prophets, but we have been around the block a few times, and we recognise better than most when we are being conned: because we have been conned so much by politicians in the past.
'Once bitten twice as shy' is the old adage, but some people have short memories and 'Grumpy old men' have long memories.

I wont stop going on about the smoking ban because this is a contributing factor to some of the ills that this nation is facing today.
A lot of people are facing financial hardship and worse in the coming recession that we are facing.
Part of that recession can be attributed to high fuel costs of which this Government take a massive amount in taxation.
If the truth be known, I say that the cost of this Smoke ban is only just being seen.

Unemployment is on the rise, with more forecast in the future, the cost of fuel has rocketed along with food price increases.
I tell you what I think, I think that the Labour Party is just scratching around trying to find other ways to tax us because the revenue has dried up from the massive tobacco taxes they used to impose on smokers.

Other countries within the EU have less taxation on tobacco, when this Government would not harmonise the taxation levels on tobacco to the same level as member states it realised it was on a loser.
People started buying imported or smuggled ciggy's instead of going to the corner shop.
Hence the less dependence on tobacco taxation as form of propping up this economy, as it did in the past.
What I believe they are not telling you is the massive knock on effect that this Smoke ban has caused.

Pubs are closing at the rate of 20 per day, the effects on communities who used pubs for meeting places for people in Rural communities is that they are being increasingly isolated by this and Post office closures, which are having a drastic effect on these communities.
The NHS must be feeling the pinch by now, along with the Service industries.
The unemployment rates must have soared which have to be funded from these previously once booming part of our economy.
And this is just a part of the trouble we face because a few grey faced unhealthy looking, miserable bunch of do gooders want to save us from ourselves ?

If you read previous articles on these pages you will see that this Non smoking lobby has fed people for years with miss-information regarding smoking and its effects.

Smoking is not to be encouraged; exactly the opposite: but trying to stop smoking by these means is not working, and look at the effects on Britain.
If things get any worse we will all need a fag to calm our nerves !
Is the smoke ban to blame for 'air rage' ?
That's another question, but millions of Grumpy smokers wont help your cause Mr Brown !

Rob Layton