The battle against a national smoking ban in Wales is hotting up - with The Publican now working with licensees to help them add their voices to the debate.
Licensees have until March 25 - when a House of Commons bill pressing for Wales to get the right to set its own ban receives its second reading - to let their Westminster MP know the strength of their feelings.
Licensed Victuallers' Associations and Cardiff brewer SA Brain have been mobilising the trade against the proposals. Now The Publican is joining forces with pubs in Wales under its Butt Out! campaign.
The Publican is urging all licensees in Wales to petition their customers, and to write to their MPs explaining why a ban should not go ahead.
Petitions and letters can be accessed by the links at the bottom of this page. The Publican is also writing to every MP in Wales itself to underline the industry's case.
Petitions will be distributed at a meeting of the Swansea & District Licensed Victuallers Association next week. Licensees from across South West Wales have been invited to the meeting, as well as representatives from Imperial Tobacco and the Atmosphere Improves Results initiative.
Licensed Victuallers (Wales) secretary John Price (pictured), licensee at the Bush, in Blenclydach, Tonypandy, said: "When I asked my own customers, 72 per cent of them said they wanted to be left alone and 18 per cent said they wanted a total ban."
Recent research carried out for the LVW suggested a quarter of Welsh pubs will close if Wales is allowed to pursue an all-out ban.
The Welsh Assembly has already voted for a ban and consultation in Wales is currently taking place.
"We're prepared to compromise on the issue, but the Welsh Assembly doesn't want to compromise at all," added Mr Price.
Grey Phillips, secretary of the Swansea & District Licensed Victuallers Association, said: "I implore licensees in Wales to get on board with The Publican's Butt Out! campaign as soon as possible. It's no good waiting - time is running out, and we're a step away from going the same way as Scotland."
Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan launched her Private Members' Bill in Westminster, pressing for the Welsh Assembly to be given the power to ban smoking, in January. The bill would be derailed if a general election is called in the next few weeks but would almost certainly return to the agenda soon after.
The Publican says:
A clear smoking policy for England and Wales was outlined in the government's White Paper on Public Health last November. The ban on smoking in food pubs from 2008 may not have been what the trade wanted, but at least it gave licensees something to work towards.
Movements to bring in swifter action in Wales are as unhelpful as similar activity from Westminster City Council and Liverpool City Council to a trade already reeling from a deluge of other pressures in 2005. Too many politicians, both in London and in Cardiff, believe they are representing the views of the people on smoking when they push for an all-out ban, when all the evidence is that they are not.
By organising your own Butt Out! petition, and forwarding the letter to your MP, you can provide indisputable proof of that.
Pubs in Wales: Act NOW
Time is running out to ensure your MP has got the full facts. You can:
- Write to your MP, setting out the issues. Click here to download our letter to use as a template (please wait a few moments for the document to download), or write your own
- Petition your customers over the next two weeks. The majority of pub customers don't want this ban. Prove it with your own petition. Click here to download the Butt Out! petition (please wait a few moments for the document to download)
- Send your petition to your MP at the House of Commons before March 25
- Send a copy to The Publican. We will collate copies from readers across Wales into one Butt Out! submission and send them to the Labour MP who launched the Private Members Bill
- The petitions will also be sent to the Welsh Assembly committee currently considering the issue.