Comments

Plain packs plain expensive — 8 Comments

    • This is the time to pull out of this mad scheme. The further they go in, the harder it will be to pull out [*as the bishop said to the actress?*].

  1. I believe that smoking rates in Australia have actually gone up slightly, and of course the figures are based on licit tobacco sales – they can only estimate the size of the black market, but anecdotally it is huge and growing rapidly since the double whammy of swingeing tax hikes and grotesque packaging.
    I never trust the figures pertaining to smoking prevalence anyway, as an awful lot of smokers will deny being a smoker when asked. In UK it is reckoned to be about 19%, but my observations of Brits on holiday here would put that figure closer to 40%, and I’m being conservative.

    • Indeed rates have reportedly gone up, but unlike the Antis I don’t put much weight on a percentage point or two.

      I completely agree about the reported figures. They have “denormalised” smoking to such an extent that some people are reluctant to admit they enjoy a fag or two. If suddenly smoking became “normal” and even fashionable, you’d find the reported figures would go through the roof.

  2. "When a state lodges proposals with the European Commission, the country implementing a new law has to obey a three-month “stand still” period, when it cannot adopt draft laws without the all clear from Europe. "

    Are you fucking kidding me?  A country can't pass any laws without Europes approval.  I can't imagine a state here having to ask federal permission to implement a law. 

    • I'm not fucking kidding!  Not only does the [unelected] commission have a veto on national laws, but the [unelected] commission produces its own laws by the lorry load which take precedence over national laws.

      Welcome to the Democratic Fourth Reich!

  3. this gave me a right giggle this morning…to anyone who is sane the government that calls itself Ireland is bust, decrepit, bankrupt, beyond redemption and should be put out of its misery but seems insanity is running rampant…

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11107507/Ireland-leaves-eurozone-behind-as-exports-boom.html

    Ireland’s public debt has rocketed to 124pc of GDP from 25pc in 2007, partly due to the toxic effects of prolonged recession, and partly the result of a taxpayer rescue for Anglo Irish Bank and four other lenders in the white heat of the financial crisis

Hosted by Curratech Blog Hosting