The British artist David Hockney has called for a review of the smoking ban, saying that it is destroying bohemia. The 72-year-old has come out in public support of a cross-party group of MPs seeking to amend the current smoking laws in the UK.
The group has called for designated smoking rooms to be permitted in order to protect the trade of pubs, which many landlords say has been severely damaged since the ban was introduced in 2007. Speaking to the BBC’s Politics Show, Hockney said that he missed smoking in his favourite East Yorkshire cafe, mourning that the management of the cafe were even afraid to let people smoke while sitting at the outside tables for fear that the smoke might come inside and so breach the ban.
He added that he loathed Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for interfering with his life and promised that though he and the PM did not move in the same circles, were they to meet he would happily let Mr. Brown know his views.
Mr Hockney said the ban was another part of the government’s ‘nanny state’ attitude and made a reference to the famous bon viveur and chef Keith Floyd, who recently died from a heart attack. He speculated that if ministers had told him to give up rich food, alcohol and cigarettes in order to live longer, the chef would have told them “that’s not what I call living.”
The Conservative MP for East Yorkshire, Greg Knight, said that he supported a review of the law as, without a relaxation of the ban, hundreds of pubs and clubs might be forced to close due to lost trade from smokers.