Taxi Driver Online

As we are no doubt all aware, Scotland's fascist government has instituted a ban on smoking in all public places. This extends to taxis and PH vehicles. Some degree of this fascism is to be visited on our brothers south of the border in due course.

Question: If I engage a fare in Edinburgh, to be conveyed to a destination outside fascist Scotland, may my passenger, having crossed the Scottish border, smoke in my taxi without the full panoply of the Law crushing him?

Question: Having disengaged my passenger and returned to fascist Scotland, can the fascist council police, masquerading as Environmental Officers, then prosecute me for having allowed someone to smoke in my taxi, although this did not take place in fascist Scotland.

As I understand it, a PH driver was fined £50 today for smoking in his own PH while using it as a private vehicle.

Kinda makes me wonder if the fascist councils had this in mind when they were plating these vehicles?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edi ... 192134.stm

But according to this story, if it was a firms motor, as opposed to his own, then he would have been in the clear.

_________________
IDFIMH

Sussex

Can you ever remember a situation when a fascist government enacted a logical law?

what company cars are exempt? in dundee all buisness vehicles are banned, some signmakers must be making a fortune, dundee council were one of the first to put the boot in ,but true to form, drive around dundee tomorrow and you will see,cabbies,bus drivers,and all the others
with the old fag in the face

We're all being duped.

Scotland is the land of alcohol, drugs and blades.

Our health service is failing.

Our police are invisible.

Our councils are a law unto themselves.

And we're supposed to be concerned about a guy having a "Harry Wragg" in his private hire?

I suspect at some point an environmental officer is going to poke his nose into a situation and he's gonna get stiffed.

I just hope we will all recognise where the fault will lie for this.

Thought I would drive the issue.

Sent this to the Council's licensing officer, the council leader and also to the Edinburgh Evening News and the local Tal107 radio station.

I guess they will all show their true worth by how they respond to this.

I'll keep you posted.

Peter (Lang, Licensing Officer)

I ask City of Edinburgh Council's licensing department to advise me on the following.

Scotland's fascist Labour government has instituted a ban on smoking in all public places. This extends to taxis and PH vehicles. Some degree of this fascism is to be visited on our brothers south of the border in due course, but not yet.

Question: If I engage a fare in Edinburgh, to be conveyed to a destination outside fascist Scotland, may my passenger, having crossed the Scottish border, smoke in my taxi without the full panoply of the Law crushing him?

Question: Having disengaged my passenger and returned to fascist Scotland, can the fascist council police, masquerading as Environmental Officers, then prosecute me for having allowed someone to smoke in my taxi, although this did not take place in fascist Scotland?

I look forward to your earliest reply.

_________________
Legal and proud

Loads a love from BERTIE !!

Would it confuse you to know that I'm a non-smoker. Gave it up over 20 years ago. Truly, I do not like the habit.

But, I do believe that everyone has rights. And exercising your rights by taking away someone else's is little more than fascism.

Whereas a middle ground catering for everyone's needs was available, Scotland's politicians went for the full ban. Why?

Because they could.

The worrying thing is when they apply this thinking to other legislative areas. We will be in the grip of totalitarianism. They now know they will get away with whatever they want.

Dark days indeed!

As if to prove the point above, I've just come across this letter in our local Evening News.

Freedoms are eroded

THE proposal that people who take drugs should be discouraged from having children might sound like a good idea but it sounds more like the big brother attitude of government. Who's next? Drinkers, smokers, the disabled? We are going down a dangerous road, with more laws telling us what we can or cannot do. This is not a free country anymore.

V Radzynski

Days getting darker?

Received this reply from the council:

Question: If I engage a fare in Edinburgh, to be conveyed to a destination outside fascist Scotland, may my passenger, having crossed the Scottish border, smoke in my taxi without the full panoply of the Law crushing him?

Answer YES - whilst they are across the Border.

Question: Having disengaged my passenger and returned to fascist Scotland, can the fascist council police, masquerading as Environmental Officers, then prosecute me for having allowed someone to smoke in my taxi, although this did not take place in fascist Scotland?

Answer NO

Seems like they can't prosecute unless they actually catch you smoking, doesn't it? Cos, all you'd have to say was that the smoky smell was created by the passenger you've just disengaged in England?

I also wrote to Keith Aitken, columnist in the Daily Express. As there was no disclaimer I'm sure he won't mind me posting it here. It concerns the piece he did today about Mel Smith smoking on stage, which is not permitted here in fascist Scotland:

First things first -- thanks for taking the trouble to write.

I agree up to a point. Personally, I'm broadly in favour of the ban, but I'm also a recent enough ex-smoker myself to understand why people resent it and I do agree that the way it has been drafted has some thoroughly daft aspects. I can (forgive me) see the point of keeping taxis smoke-free but I can't for the life of me see why smoking should be banned in the cab of a tractor or a lorry. Nor why, as someone who works from home, I can't let family guests smoke in my front room, even though I don't see business contacts there. Etc, etc.

But I do take exception to Mel Smith flouncing into Scotland and insulting our laws and our parliament. I also, and here I must take issue with your own letter too, have problems when people toss accusations of fascism around so frivolously. I don't mean to sound priggish, but fascism has some horribly important lessons from history to teach and they're not to be taken lightly.

All of which being said, I'm sincerely grateful to you for taking up the argument with me, and I'd very much like to pass your letter on to the Editor for possible use on the letters page. If you're happy for me to do so, could you please let me know by urgent return? Thanks again.
Best wishes,
KeithA

My reply to him is as follows:

Keith

Thanks for replying.

I have no problem with the letter going to the editor, I did in fact copy it to them.

Interestingly the council have come back to me to say that there would be no prosecution in respect of smoking while driving in England and also that there would be no prosecution on my return to Scotland. Seems that unless they actually catch you smoking, they can't prosecute, can they?

As for using the word fascism, I do not do so "frivolously". I used the term advisedly. Because it frightens the hell out of me. Substantially I view this as a destination, and one which an apathetic public is allowing to be reached with frightening speed.

And, just because it is such a distasteful term, it doesn't mean it isn't true.

Webster's describes Fascism thus:

2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

There can surely be no doubt that this describes the way Scotland's Parliament is operating. I abhor this, preferring consensus and education rather than dictatorial laws arrived at with no electoral mandate and poor consultation.

We preach protection of minorities and here we have our Parliament, by stigmatising smokers although their habit is not illegal, creating another minority, almost a sub class.

We could have gone down a middle road where the balance was smoke free, unless pub and club proprietors could provide wholly separate facilities for smokers with high standards of ventilation to protect the environment.

That's reason. That's logic. That's fair. That's the British way.

Incidentally, I am a non-smoker. I stopped over 20 years ago and abhor the habit.

I just happen to believe in freedom, choice and consensus.

Thanks for taking the time to write back.

Kind regards

Just a wee thought about something Keith Aitken said.

Because he works from home, he is now not permitted in Scots Law to allow family guests to smoke in his front room.

I'm sure that a lot of cabbies claim the use of even a part of a room for business purposes, and recover against tax a proportion of household expenses for same. Just a tax avoidance measure really.

But, if this is the case, then wouldn't they fall into the same situation as Keith, it would be illegal for them to smoke in their own front room?

_________________
Legal and proud

Loads a love from BERTIE !!

The government is about to start stealing peoples houses now, if left empty for six months. Think about it!!!!

I wonder what will happen to all the pubs and club's in Scotland who cannot provide some form of outdoor shelter in winter, where food is not served, at the moment we are having a hot spell so there is no problem but come winter how many will be forced to close due to no fault of there own with trade staying at home.
Just one thought though are we not covered by the health and safety laws??? and one of those laws state that if you can do the same thing sitting down as standing up you can do so.
One of our weekend cowboy operator drivers smokes in his cab on the rank and gets away with it, he has been reported and pulled up about it but he seems to be a law unto himself and just wont listen
I was informed by a woman from Glasgow who goes to the Gala bingo there that she, and all the women there protested by lighting up, and the manager called the police but was told it was not a criminal offence, only a civil one and would take no action so he called the environment officer and he said he was not going in there and that he was hen pecked enough at home.
Mind you it could all change at voting time, just ask the candidates if they intend to amend the smoking rules and if they say no tell them to sling there hook

What next ?

We have the Council here in Renfrewshire (Paisley & Glasgow Airport, etc.) ordering us what to wear even though we don't work for them

I am sure the next step will be no facial hair, smart hair cut & any tattoos covered up