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Margo seeks cut in sports channel fees



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MARGO MacDONALD wants satellite and cable sports channels to cut their subscription costs to help pubs which are struggling because of the smoking ban.
The Independent Lothians MSP said small public houses and bars had seen significant reductions in their takings since the ban was introduced in March 2006.

And now they face a hike in charges for screening football matches.

Ms MacDonald called on the Scottish Government to make representations to Setanta Sport Holdings and British Sky Broadcasting to reduce the cost of commercial satellite and cable sports subscriptions.

She said: "I've had several publicans approach me about this and they are from the smaller pubs who take the kind of approach we should encourage if we want to see sensible drinking.

"Already the smoking ban has affected their trade and if they are going to be hit with a double whammy from increased costs for showing football on pub screens, I fear a lot of them will go out of business."

But Public Health Minister Shona Robison said there was no robust evidence to show the smoking ban has had an adverse effect on sales in Scottish pubs.





The full article contains 197 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 08 March 2008 11:46 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Margo MacDonald
 
1

Tim85,

Lancs, England 08/03/2008 15:02:37
No surprises here then. Alan Johnson said the same thing in relation to England - 'no evidence', etc., despite consistent statements to the contrary from the licensing trade. Despite the fact that the pubcos have seen their share prices drop like stones, and their profits lessen.

Wetherspoons are the latest to be hit. But seeing as they opted to introduce a smoking ban in their pubs early, then u-turned having realised it would be economically catastrophic, then campaigned for the 'level playing field' of a total ban because independent, small, community wet led pubs surviving was not a prospect they relished, well, I suppose it's an example of reaping what they sowed.
2

TheTerminator,

08/03/2008 16:32:52
How can Shona Robison have the nerve to say there is no
robust evidence to show the smoking ban has had an adverse effect on sales in Scottish pubs. The Health and Sports Committee have denied the petitioners of Public Petitions PE1037 and PE1042 the opportunity to provide NEW evidence. Democracy does not exist for smokers in the Scottish Parliament.
3

Bill Crombie,

UK 08/03/2008 16:41:15
Why do are politicians constantly lie to justify the smoking ban?

It is having a devastating effect on the hospitality trade - over 4 pubs per day are closing in the UK. This is almost three times the figure prior to the introduction of the smoking ban in England on 1st July 2007.

Don't blame cheap supermarket alcohol (it has been cheaper than pubs for years) or the downturn in the economy, it is the Smoking Ban Experiment.

Is it no coincidence that the share value of Pubcos has half since 1st July 2007? No - it is the Smoking Ban Experiment to blame.

I squarely and firmly blame the politicians for being stupid enough to believe all the crap science surrounding the "deadly" effect of second hand smoke. The likes of ASH, BHF and CRUK are not charities, they are lobby groups - politicised with donations from the gullible public and from the coffers of Gordie MacBean's government.

Amend the law to allow separate, designated and ventilated smoking rooms in pubs, clubs and restaurants and amend it fast.
4

DaveA,

Forfarshire 08/03/2008 18:26:14
Margo MacDonald shows that the four party system should wither on the vine, such rare honesty from a politician. Shona Robison exemplfies the lies, spin and corruption that besmirches politics in Europe, UK and Scotland. The smoking ban has been a disaster for publicans, smokers, non smokers (£3 a pint, someone has to pay for the lost profits)and employment. Might I suggest Shona should stop wasting our time and fiddle her expenses.
5

portonian,

falkirk 08/03/2008 19:45:56



The real problem is the drink is too expensive ,the pubs have changed hands at inflated prices on the evidence of past profits and now on falling sales increasing prices is the only business plan companies
seem to have,thus helping the downward spiral.
I drink at home with friends as a cost effective alternative,and I am a non smoker. It is time Margo went she is also non effective and belongs to another time,and dabbles in problems she does not understand.
6

TheTerminator,

08/03/2008 20:06:13
#5 portonian.

At least Margo Macdonald has recognised that the Smoking Ban Experiment is decimating pubs and clubs unlike the other MSP's who behave like ostriches by burying their heads in the sand, denying their is a problem, refusing to listen to new evidence and weakly following their ASH Scotland leaders.
7

Donnie,

08/03/2008 20:07:19
Health Minister Shona Robison needs to take her head out of where the sun dont shine, she is talking a load of c**p and its obvious she dosent visit pubs. Pubs are privately owned not publically owned, whether smoking takes place on the premises should be the owners choice and no one elses. Government control of private property is a principle of communism, but then thats what Nu Labour are communists in drag.
8

Epicurus,

08/03/2008 20:45:18
if the snp actually wantd to achieve popularity in scotland and restore the faith in the political system all they have to do is change the smoking ban to optional - without doubt the most hated legislation ever to be introduced, including thatchers poll tax. the original proposals the snp introduced would have been accepted; now all they're doing is achieving the same level of contempt we all had/have for slimey jack.
show some bottle alex, instead of spin - just about all we've had since you gained power
9

TheTerminator,

08/03/2008 22:09:15
The current Health and Sports Committee said on 12th Sept 2007 that it was too early to carry out any post-legislative scrutiny of the smoking ban yet the previous Health Committee did exactly that at their meeting on 6th Feb 2007 ( before the last elections ).There is no justice for smokers in the Scottish Parliament. Smokers are voters and we will remember how we have been ignored by our elected MSP's.
10

TheTerminator,

08/03/2008 22:25:20
The post-legislative scrutiny set up by the previous Health Committee on 6th Feb 2007 no doubt resulted in the infamous Jill Pell Scottish Heart Attack Study which was plastered across the media on 10th Sept 2007.Where is this study, it has not been peer reviewed or even seen by anyoone outside the Anti-Smoking enclave. The credibility of our politicians in both introducing a smoking ban and refusing to listen to new evidence is at an all time low, and they will pay the price for believing ASH Scotland.
11

mandyv,

Banitland 09/03/2008 00:57:30
I cannot believe the lies that continue to grow.
This ban is affecting the hospitality trade, it was NOT wanted by the majority. See what Micheal Siegel the antis once upon a time hero hyas to say about the so called miracle heart attack reductions, yet the lies continue.

8th August 2006 the HSE in the document OC 255/15 article9 state
for some strange reason hmm it has been changed to OC 255/16 Paragraph
14
" HSE cannot produce epidemiological evidence to link levels of exposure to second hand smoke to the raised risk of contacting specific diseases".
We need to get this ban amended to include ventilation,
freedom2choose.info -- for tolerant non-smokers and smokers alike
Please show your support, donations, large or small, toward our fighting fund,
become a member, or join the forums.
Stand up and be counted.
Warning: Anti-tobacco activism may be hazardous to epidemiologic science
http://www.epi-perspectives.com/content/4/1/13

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mN-xDlsNXII Hamish Howitt Publican

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/smokinglicenses/ ends in October 2008
These could do with some support please,
12

portonian,

falkirk 09/03/2008 08:13:20
@6 the terminator

no doubt the same ostriches that denied the link with

smoking and lung cancer.perhaps an area to snort coke

should be set aside to improve the profits of sellers
13

TheTerminator,

09/03/2008 11:01:18
#12 portonion.

The smoking ban is based on the myth of the danger of Second Hand Smoke. I agree that smoking does result in a risk to the individual doing it, but that is their choice and it is a legal habit. You do yourself no credit to bring the use of illegal substances into this discussion.
14

Rollo Tommasi,

09/03/2008 18:48:57
Au contraire Terminator. It is you who does yourself no credit by wrongly stating the danger of passive smoking to be a "myth".
15

Bill Crombie,

09/03/2008 20:25:44
Even NHS Scotland admitted that it does not keep records of people expiring from the most lethal concoction known to man - passive smoking, ETS, SHS... or the anti-smoking brigade's bedtime fairy stories.

How on earth people can quote numbers of deaths from passive smoking as gospel, when no body counts are taken is beyond me? Maybe not, we are talking here about the likes from ASH, who have mastered the art of lying for over 3 decades to get their way. However, if history has not taught us anything it is the truth will prevail no matter what.
16

TheTerminator,

09/03/2008 21:09:23
#15 Bill Crombie.

The truth will prevail Bill but unfortunately the Health and Sports Committee at the Scottish Parliament
are not interested in allowing it to be told.
17

Rollo Tommasi,

09/03/2008 21:55:48
Yes Bill. Truth prevails. Which is why thankfully our lawmakers have chosen not to rely on the pro-smoking brigade's corrupted reporting of results from passive smoking studies. Non-smokers exposed to passive smoke are more likely to succumb to heart attack and lung cancer than other non-smokers. Period.

If you disagree, feel free to challenge this evidence:
http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/scoth/PDFS/scothnov2004.pdf

 

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