UK News

So how has the smoking ban been for you?

This week marks the first anniversary of England’s ban on smoking in indoor public places. Hardly a puff has been blown in the nation’s pubs and restaurants since July 1 2007.

The health benefits seem clear –  a study by Cancer Research UK suggests the ban has contributed to a 5.5 percent fall in smoking rates in the first nine months after the law changed. That’s about 400,000 people.

Non smokers have had the pubs to themselves as the die-hards crush up in windswept, fag-strewn areas outside, savouring the superiority of the forsaken. They may be making all sorts of new friends in the long Summer evenings but Winter is on the way…

Publicans have seen their takings drop in general but many are fighting back by beefing up their food offerings as more and more people are tempted back into licensed premises to eat now the fug has gone.

Ramsay’s latest rant. A hot topic or just hot air?

Chef Gordon Ramsay is never shy of courting controversy and he is back in the headlines again calling for restaurants to be fined if they sell out-of-season vegetables or fruit.

You could forgive the public for being confused when it comes to knowing where to eat, where to shop and what to buy.