Defiance: UK Tony blows his top over smoking ban

July 31, 2007

A pub landlord has said he will allow people to smoke in his bar to avoid risking his bar staff getting attacked if they try to enforce the ban.
Tony Blows, of the Dog Inn at Ewyas Harold, in Herefordshire, said the ban, introduced across England on 1 July, contradicted health and safety laws.

He said the law said staff should not be put in possibly violent situations.

Herefordshire Council said it may review whether Mr Blows was a “fit and proper person” to hold a pub licence.

Mr Blows said that under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a duty of care to provide a safe place of work for all staff.

‘Not an excuse’

He said he believed asking bar staff at the village pub to confront smokers would contradict those guidelines.

Mr Blows said: “When people come in here I tell them that smoking in a public place like this is against the law and they could face a ?50 fine or a court appearance.

“However, because of the previous health and safety rulings, we can’t enforce it.

“This is not an excuse to just get us out of the smoking ban – anyone who looks on the Health and Safety Executive’s website can see the contradiction there in black and white.”

But the council’s environmental health manager Paul Nicholas said Mr Blows, as an experienced landlord, should be able to deal with confrontational situations.

‘Control measures’

He said: “As a fit and proper person to hold a pub licence, the landlord must be expected to deal with all sorts of illegal behaviour such as drug taking, gambling and violence and smoking is no different.

“No doubt he will have carried out a risk assessment and developed suitable control measures for dealing with such situations.

“If he says he cannot stop people smoking on the premises, the matter of whether he is a fit and proper person to hold a licence may need to be considered.”

He said the council had received no reports of people smoking in the pub, and added: “We do have to ask ourselves whether Mr Blows is using the media to publicise his own pub.”

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Smoking protest pub support ‘overwhelming’

July 2, 2007
By Iain O’Neil
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A Herefordshire licensee said support for his smoking ban protest has been “overwhelming”.

Tony Blows, who owns the Dog Inn at Ewyas Harold, found his pub at the centre of international media frenzy this weekend because his customers continued to smoke despite the ban.

Blows said he has “done his bit” by informing all his customers of the law but said he cannot risk the safety of his staff by making them enforce it.

He said: “Because of the Health and Safety Executive’s violence in the workplace legislation I can’t ask my staff to enforce the ban. If someone wants to light up I will tell them it is illegal but I can’t put my staff in a position where they might be threatened with violence.

“If they tell someone to stop smoking and that person rears up I’ll tell them to get on with it – we are not going to enforce the law.”

Blows said he has had hundreds of messages of support from across the world and is receiving offers of financial help for his protest group Freedom to Choose – which has launched a judicial review of the smoking ban in the High Courts.

He said: “People have even offered to pay my legal costs if I get in trouble with the law. The support has been overwhelming.”

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Day Of Defiance! Update. Bars ignore ban July 1, 2007. Live report from The Swan pub, Churchgate, Bolton, Lancashire.
Joe Jackson: Attention Smokers! Don’t stop the party. “Smokers need to know the true facts. The more we know, the better we can fight back. Do not allow yourself to be bullied. Do not apologise to anyone. On the contrary, explain to people why you’re a victim of unjust discrimination. You are enjoying a legal pleasure with a long and honourable history, and you’re contributing ?10 billion a year to your country in tax revenue. Be proud.
Queen Elizabeth Breaks Smoking Ban. No-smoking signs have been put up at the entrances to Buckingham Palace used by members of the public when they receive honors, but there will none at entrances used by the queen, the royal family or senior aides.
Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash has said that he is ready to flaunt the U.K. smoking ban.

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Smokers defy ban

Jul 1 2007

Some smokers are continuing to light up in public despite the ban that took effect at 6am this morning.

Tony Blows, landlord of The Dog Inn in Ewys Harold, near Hereford, is a member of the pro-smoking campaign group Freedom2Choose and said he is prepared to go to court as he joined regulars for a cigarette.

“My wife and I work 200 hours a week in this pub,” he said. “It’s private property and there’s no way they can stop us doing it. As long as we abide by licensing laws we are not doing anything wrong.

“It’s been brought in on the back of a pack of lies. This lie about passive smoking, it’s a perfect lie. There’s no proof whatsoever that second-hand smoking kills.”

Freedom2Choose estimates as many as 3,000 of its members, including licensees and social club owners, could refuse to quit their habit in enclosed public spaces.

The group launched a legal challenge on human rights grounds at the High Court last week in a bid to “fight against injustice and erosion of freedom and personal liberties”.

Campaigners claimed the ban would breach their human rights because it involves a “restriction on the peaceful enjoyment of possessions”.

They also claimed it would breach the right to privacy of people who visit pubs and social clubs to have a smoke.

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Tony blows his top over smoking ban

June 14, 2007
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ENGLAND will go smoke-free in less than three weeks’ time, but not everyone is happy about the new law.

Herefordshire landlord Tony Blows believes the smoking ban is not just unfair, but illegal.

Mr Blows, who owns the Dog Inn at Ewyas Harold, claims the ban poses a very real threat to the livelihoods of thousands of people and has promised to disobey the new law when it comes into effect on July 1.

He said: “You can look at any of the countries in which a smoking ban is active and find jobs have been lost.

“Ireland has lost around 1,000 pubs in the last three years and in Scotland, over 200 pubs and bingo halls have been shut. In England, it has been predicted that 3,500 pubs will be forced to close down and this really is not good enough.

“This is an unjust law and we are going to defy the ban, as will another 1,000 pubs around the country. I will do whatever it takes to keep my pub open.”

The landlord is a member of the website freedom2choose.co.uk, a group set up to challenge the ban largely on the basis that by implementing the ban, the government is going back on promises set out in its manifesto.

Freedom2choose, with money raised from donations from its members, is to officially challenge the government’s ban by instigating a judicial review, which Mr Blows believes will start within two weeks.

He also claims the government is considering putting back the ban’s starting date to accommodate the findings of this and two other reviews.

Herefordshire Council environmental health officer Paul Nicholas said he thought the ban would be introduced in July and it would be enforced with minimum fuss.

“We will have two safety officers majoring in smoking and when they receive a call that someone is allowing smoking on their premises, they will go round, sit down with whoever it is, have a cup of tea and make sure they understand what the ban means,” he said.

“We will make sure people are aware of the consequences and that for a landlord to be caught doing it repeatedly, it’s probably going to end in a court case, although everybody will get one chance.”