Maureen Moore, the director of ASH Scotland, is the highest new entry in Scotland on Sunday's annual Power 100 list for helping to force through Scotland's groundbreaking ban on smoking in public places.But then I read this comment from one of the judges:
Magnus Linklater, the chairman of the judging panel, said politicians had been deliberately excluded from the list. "The Power 100 is a list of people who have had a major impact on Scottish life in the past year, outside the Holyrood goldfish bowl.It's true that Ms Moore hasn't been elected to the Scottish Parliament but that doesn't mean that she's not political. Note the words "helping to force through".
I know that I've linked to this book before, but the message (paging David Cameron) needs to be constantly reinforced:
"There are two fundamentally opposed means whereby man, requiring sustenance, is impelled to obtain the necessary means for satisfying his desires. These are work and robbery, one's own labor and the forcible appropriation of the labor of others."Ms Moore didn't run a campaign to persuade the owners of private businesses (they're not "public" places) to ban smoking - that would be "work". Such a campaign would have been entirely legitimate - indeed, I might have supported it myself. But no, she got politicians to force through a ban - that's "robbery". She's as much a politician - and as harmful to our liberties - as any elected MSP.
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ISC
Some years ago at a fringe meeting at the Scottish Tory Party Conference, I repeatedly challenged Maureen Moore as to (a) her facts; (b) the conclusions she drew from them.
I pointed out that if she was so concerned about public health, then she should be arguing for state power to be used to ban sugar and red meat, both of which cause bigger proven health problems than cigarettes, and both of which were a growing problem. She thought my point was completely ridiculous, but then I guess she partakes herself of red meat and sugar.
Now we see that state's concern is now much more on what we eat than on what we smoke, so this stupid woman clearly demonstrated her tunnel vision, and her rank hypocrisy.
3 June 2006, 21:18:46 GMT+01:00
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