Casa di Ricomanjaro

Mike B merkte op:

Stone rolls into smoking ban row

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards may have flouted Scotland’s smoking ban when he played to thousands of fans at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. The city council confirmed it was investigating reports that he smoked on stage throughout the gig on Friday.

The veteran rocker could face a £50 fine and Hampden Park could also face a £250 penalty if officials prove the venue failed to enforce the ban. The rock ‘n’ roll legends are on the UK leg of their A Bigger Bang world tour.

A ban on smoking in all public places came into effect in Scotland on 26 March this year. At the beginning of this month, actor Mel Smith was warned not to smoke during his performance of Churchill in the play Allegiance at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Edinburgh City Council had said that the Assembly Rooms would be shut down if the law was broken.

Neil Rafferty, from the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco (Forest), said: “This is yet another way in which the smoking ban makes Scotland look ridiculous. “A few weeks ago we had Mel Smith being forced to compromise his portrayal of Winston Churchill under a threat of the whole venue being closed down, and now we have Scotland’s national stadium Hampden Park under investigation for spurious reasons.”

However, the anti-tobacco organisation Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) Scotland said celebrities should not be above the law. Chief executive Maureen Moore said: “If he has been breaking the law then he has to pay the penalty like anyone else.”

(c) BBC News

Mike: “Het lijkt erop dat Keith Richards een bekeuring gaat krijgen. Nu ben ik geen fervent roker, maar nadat ik al eerder las dat de filmmaatschappij van Tom & Jerry vrolijk aan het geschiedvervalsen gaat door in klassieke (!) Tom & Jerry filmpjes de rookscenes te verwijderen word ik nu echt wel een beetje pissig.”

Jerry heeft ook recht op een rookvrije werkplek.

Mike: “Moet ome Keith die meer dan 40 jaar de “rock-icoon met peuk” uithangt nu opeens grassprietjes in zijn mond hangen of zo?”

Ja, dit kan écht niet. Artiesten die niet meer mogen roken op het podium. Wat volgt? Bouwvakkers die op de steigers geen shaggie meer mogen draaien? Journalisten die worden gedwongen nicotinepleisters te plakken?

“Kan iemand die Schotten een draai om hun oren geven? Wat een nonsens.”

Wacht maar af, Mike. Dit heb je hier binnen een paar jaar ook. Tivoli rookvrij, ook als The Ethiopians spelen. Berg je maar.