Taking bets

That Gawain points to an article which we have heard before. One wonders how this collection of stories will play out, pattern-wise:

UKIP points to Europe's recommendation that suggests a new definition of an enclosed or indoor areas where smoking should be banned.

These would "include any space covered by a roof or enclosed by one or more walls or sides, regardless of the type of material used for the roof, wall or sides, and regardless of whether the structure is permanent or temporary”.

UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom said: “Enough is enough. Today six pubs will close in the UK. Part of our culture is under threat and today is the time to say enough is enough. These jumped up puritanical dictators must be told where to get off.

Yesterday health minister Lord Darzi said there are no plans to extend the smoking ban to outdoor public places in the UK, following a question from crossbench peer Lord Laird.

So, how to explain this out of officialdom:

The European Union says it wants its member states to ban smoking in enclosed public places, on public transportation and in workplaces by 2012.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou says smoking and secondhand smoking cause serious health and economic problems for Europeans who increasingly prefer smoke-free environments.

If the statist template holds, the pattern should follow some version of this:

Step 1) denied as originating from the EU;
Step 2) introduced as a non-binding EU feel-good measure only affecting four Romanian pubs located in Outer Suceava - no worries you see;
Step 3) buried in some piece of EU-wide binding legislation dealing with 'child health';
Step 4) 'discovered' during implementation, after the fact and amid claims from member state legislatures that "there is nothing we can do"; and,
Step 5) denied as originating from the EU*

That should be a close approximation. One thing from the first article does grate:

Robert Humphreys, secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, stressed that this was a non-binding recommendation, and said it was probably aimed at other member states without smoking bans.

Industry does itself no favours when slavishly kow-towing to governmentalism. This particular ban will be on them before they know it, then what? By always going-along-to-get-along, industry refuses to rock the boat and in the end sinks their own ship by not putting up a fight agains the encroachment of that bigger governmental hand in purely private affairs.

*Legislation passed but ignored in France and Belgium