I'm surprised this hasn't been commented on yet ...

This question was raised on R4 last week, Moneybox IIRC.

There is a discrepancy between 2 pieces of data that allows the figure to
be imagineered. The first figure is pretty reliable as it is the amount of
packs of fags sold with duty paid in a particular year. The second figure
is extrapolated from the British Housing Survey where they ask people if
they smoke or not, and the no. of fags per day. The BHS is supposedly a
representative sample of the population and it is claimed that the total
no. of fags consumed in the UK per year can be extrapolated.

(total fags consumed) - (legal fags purchased) = (lots of fags)

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=118454 has the final figure
at 28% of total sales and that was in 2003.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

Like traditional rural pubs, that model of pub was doomed long before a
smoking ban was considered.

Considering your occupation, I would expect you to have a better
understanding of the socio-economics of the on-licence trade. Your employer
and its peers has had a bigger impact on the local boozer than the smoking
ban.

 

Well, it's Wales

--
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So not a majority then. OTOH don't people notoriously under report how
much they actually smoke when asked. To say nothing of those that are
rolling their own and then using some kind of random personal factor to
convert their usage into British Standard Cigarettes.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Hmm. I know two / three round here that really seem to be doing rather
well as traditional, rural pubs. Sadly none are within comfortable
walking distance.




--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Hence why I said the figure was extrapolated. Plus the figure is 7 years
out of date.

The figure is still significant enough to get the point across to the
treasury that punitive taxation is not a means to stop people smoking when
trips to Belgium & the Canaries cost peanuts.

 

It'd be interesting to see more up to date figures because duty free
tobacco has certainly become more readily available with the increased
number of East Europeans coming in and out of the country. They're
fucking up the governments tax predictions, the bastards.

 

Yep, gotcha. And of course if people are under-reporting in BHS then the
actual figures will indicate that more are being bought without UK duty
being paid.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

The traditional rural tavern has largely disappeared around here. Large
number of excellent gastropubs, including the Walnut Tree which has been
reshod with a Michelin star, after that wanker that was on Ramsay's show
fucked off. The trad. pub of the mid 20th century with darts team & skittle
alley is gone. Darts/skittles is largely a preserve of British
Legion/Labour/sports clubs now as they often have a minibus and cheaper
beer prices. Another niche is the pub with bunkhouse as we are on the edge
of the Brecon Beacons NP.

 

Well one is a border line gastro pub and the other two serve a pretty
good pie and chips. However, and I think this is important, I'd happily
settle down for several jars on a cold night in any of them.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Poor choice of words, I agree.

Just because a "zero" policy works for train drivers, it does not
automatically follow that such a policy is necessary/desirable for the
wider population.

A similar conclusion based on the incidence of crash helmet wearing
within motorcyclists, for example.

Or the need for child-care professionals to be vetted/licensed before
they have any contact with children ... oh, hang on.

 

It's not only East Europeans. When I worked at Xerox the NL drivers coming
from our plant in Venray often had loads of the stuff for sale. IIRC from
what BGN says, the price of tobacco in Belgium makes it worthwhile for him
to make a trip over once every 3 months, as he only pays about £5 for the
ferry.

 

You probably did but were too pissed to remember

--
Malc

Rusted and ropy.
Dog-eared old copy.
Vintage and classic,
or just plain Jurassic:
all words to describe me.

 

I agree but as you say totally unpolicable.

--
Malc

Rusted and ropy.
Dog-eared old copy.
Vintage and classic,
or just plain Jurassic:
all words to describe me.

 

Bit of both, I suspect.

Pubs getting quieter and putting up prices, plus a smoking ban, meant
people have more reason to buy supermarket booze.

When a pint of Boddingtons (straight from Strangeways) was £1.10 in my
local, I rarely saw the point of buying 4 cans for £1.50 at 'Liquor
Save'. Now it's pushing 3 quid for a pint of John Smiths, I have very
little reason to wander down the pub.

 

You think that changing the amount of alcohol inside people driving
cars is "dividing and grinding down"?

What an odd fish you are.

 

Call me a foil-hat wearing lunatic, but we do seem to have a government
on a mission to introduce as many laws as they possibly can in order to
gain further control over the population. This, to me, appears to be yet
another one of those. Aside from the fund-raising potential of it.

 

An average of one new law per day while they've been in power, according
to today's Sunday Times.

 

This isn't the first Government to do it, and it won't be the last.

You dont think there coud be a *teeny* little element of
"drink-driving is something we should discourage"?

The fact that youconsider this to be a significant factor in this
decision tells people a very great deal about the value of your
opinions.

 

Which compares with the average, over, say, the last hundred years?