lord of the blog

« Smacking | Main | Responses »

Friday, July 09, 2004

Responses

This is a great debate!

Smacking.

I’m against smacking but worried about enforcement. Am I really going to call the police if I see a parent slap a child? I’m told this is not a problem in countries that have a complete ban but I would want to see if it really does work. A total ban would have an educational effect as did the race relations legislation.

Children can never have the same power as adults but they do have more rights then before and in my experience teenagers are much better at making their views known then they did when I was one.

At the moment I’m inclined to vote for the amendment as the best available option but I’m open to persuasion on a total ban.
------------------------------------

Abortion.

Abortion is a highly emotive issue and pictures of a foetus have the power to sway opinion.

I think harryj is wrong to call it murder – would he really want woman who had an abortion to be charged and sentenced as murderers? The history of all societies shows that abortion does take place regardless of legislation. It is not that long since we all recognised the problem of back street abortions and dead foetuses were found on public rubbish dumps.

That is one of the reasons that a woman’s right to choose is important. It is also important to remember that men do have a lot of responsibility in this.

The reason I put the challenge of the hospital fire in my original post was to emphasise that we do make decisions on the quality of life. I would like harryj to answer that question.

The other big question is if we are going to be able to create life outside the womb and sustain it, then we can’t argue against abortion on the sustainability point. But if we legislate against all abortion we will reintroduce back street abortions.

No easy answers on this one!
------------------------------------------

Smoking.

Dan reminds me that I’ve got a Hookah bar in my patch – I was thinking of making a sneaky visit! I suspect we need a public place definition and I’m also worried about a universal ban although many doctors writing to me say I shouldn’t duck the issue. They want a total ban on the basis of harm to others.

Ingrid makes a good point about traffic fumes (and Durfar – but we are doing better on that since I last wrote!) and I sympathise with feather boa and his worry about dealing with a drunken customer in my patch. I have some experience of this!

We banned smoking at Party Conference. All those smoke filled rooms are a thing of the past – that’s when we lost our way in the smoke!
------------------------------------

National Offender Management Service.

It was nice to hear from Judy Mcknight again. Alas Judy, I do not follow the probation/prison debate as I use to and I have heard conflicting views on the new system. I will have another look.
--------------------------------------

Iraq.

Yes Peter, I am thinking of going to see Michael Moore. I enjoy satire but I don’t make policy on it – nor should you! Did you read Tony Blair’s speech on March 18th 2003?

Here's one for you (in a spirit of polite curiosity, of course!).

Will you oppose the proposed cuts in British infantry numbers - and if you won't, would you care to try to justify them to me, given the existing overstretch in British armed forces and given that, in spite of claims of a recruitment crisis which are being used as a smokescreen justification over the proposed cutbacks, the government is instituting recruitment capping on infantry regiments, thus preventing them from taking on the new recruits that the government claims do not exist?

It would be good if you could tell us what you thought of the Hookah Bar and what the owners said about the proposed smoking ban.

Let me guess another great speech where our glorious leader promised to bring milk and honey to the people of Iraq? I don't know how you people sleep at night.

If you had any honour at all Labour MP's would not mention the word Iraq without explaining what they were going to do to get Blair to resign and at the same time explain how you will stop yourselves from being so stupid again. You are all a disgrace to democracy.

Firstly, I'm neither a pacifist nor a student, and I'll even take time off work to campaign for Labour at the next General Election (if Hove CLP ever get their act together!).

The problem is that it's increasingly obvious that the PM is in an impossible position. The only argument he can now call upon is "you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs", which is a pretty shameful one. My original view was that he should resign straight after the next General Election win, but I am coming around to the view that - though Gordon Brown is an unknown quantity - Blair should go before the vote.

There's no doubt Blair (together with a few other unfortunates) is tarnished for ever by recent events, and that despite Labour having the best policies and many achievements, preserving Blair's 'myth of invincibility' will cause us to lose MPs wholly unnecessarily.

Clive, could you give us a good reason for supporting Tony Blair as leader? Do you think other MPs might be too frightened to ditch the man they believe is responsible for getting them elected?

Treating smoking-related illnesses costs the NHS £1.7 billion per year.
Treating alcohol-related illnesses costs the NHS £1.7 billion per year.
It is time to stop pubs and clubs from allowing people to get so inebriated they become violent or ill. The crackdown on binge drinking is a good start.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: