IN January, and before the public debate as to whether Gordon Brown was a 'closet bully', I wrote to your paper about how this Government had gone beyond nannying the electorate and had now started to bully them.
I believe the latest stories circulating about our PM vindicates my theory of how we are treated.
In the same piece, and as an example of this bullying, I referred to how I perceived a disproportionate treatment of smokers in punitive fines, disc
rimination and denormalisation of their lives, and how this was backed up by the judiciary and local authorities spurred on by central government at the behest of drug companies and health zealots.
Lo and behold I am proven right once again! In February 2010, Nick Hogan, an ex-landlord of two public houses in Lancashire, was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to pay a sum in excess of £10,000 including costs, for offences committed under this Government's anti smoking laws.
Disproportionate? I think so! The offence? He rightly or wrongly allowed adults to make their own decision as to whether to smoke or not in his establishments.
In the wording of this draconian law, this was illegal.
By law he has to police his premises and take full responsibility for adults who break the law. This is like prosecuting an airline pilot for terrorists taking over his plane.
A more sinister postscript to this story, and one I find very worrying, is the lack of reporting of this court case in the mainstream media.
It is as if the authorities are suppressing this type of news item so as not to create a martyr and foster public outrage and support with the media following the Establishment's diktat.
To anyone out there who takes the moral high ground on this case, consider the following: you may not smoke, but do you drive a car? Do you like a drink of alcohol? Do you like sweet or fatty foods? Do you fly away on holiday? If you don't fit their ideal of the perfect citizen beware, because they are coming to get you!
Social Engineering is ongoing and we will all be the losers.
R CANNON
Filley Royd
CLECKHEATON
