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The overlooked Isle — 5 Comments

    • Meh!  You're right of course.  My apologies.  Probably explains why it's so often forgotten?

      • The UK is a self governing crown dependency, The City of London State is the crown upon which all countries with a crown court system are dependent.
         

  1. What might also interest you is that a couple of years back one of the lead government agencies involved in the Bill, our Department of Fair Trading, actually recruited under-age kids to try and buy fags in order to try and get a showcase prosecution and 'prove' the need for more restrictions. As they couldn't be paid in cash, the kids were offered I-pods or similar rewards. In the only case I know where they succeeded, a shop owner and his assistant were made to turn up at court and hang around for a whole day something like 3 times only for the DFT not to show before the case was dropped.

    I suspect because, if it had, firstly the CCTV in the shop clearly showed the kid used was so tall and bulky she looked at least 18, secondly the shop assistant conned was a non-smoking teetotal lad who knew all the local kids, some of whose parents were so disgusted they asked  to testify he would never knowingly sell cigs or alcohol to their kids and would let parents know if they tried, and thirdly, the defence lawyer's opening question was to be 'have there been any other  prosecutions on the island for underage fag sales' (answer was no) and second one was to be did the DFT think a government agency should pay kids to knowingly break a law, even in order to prove a point?

    Lifelong non-smoker myself, but the way this one is going has caused me to have every sympathy for those who like a relaxing ciggie. If any group of folk at a house party can come to amicable agreements about where to smoke without a fuss, downright disgrace the government don't think grown adults can do the same anywhere else (or everywhere if they get their vinegar-titted way).

    • As far as I know, they try the same trick here.  They get underage kids and dress 'em up to look older and then send them on a shopping spree.  It's all a bit sick and pointless, and in my book the "authorities" who do it should be prosecuted for inciting a crime.  What's the difference between a seventeen and an eighteen year old anyway, apart for a few months?

      Being retired and not having to enter a workplace the various bans don't affect me that much.  The reason I detest them so much is threefold. 

      1. The bans were brought in on the basis of a blatant lie,

      2. I despise the whole concept of someone telling me how I should live my life.

      3. Having got their way with smokers they are just going to start introducing laws forcing people into eating, drinking and generally living the way they see fit.  They won't be happy until they have turned us all into meek obedient little drones who do exactly as they are told by The State.

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