Pub clients scorn Scotland's public smoking ban

The public smoking ban set to take effect in Scotland this weekend is a 'Scots tragedy', according to columnist Magnus Linklater, who spoke to customers at a working-class pub in Edinburgh. "They talk about which is better, a slow death in the fug of the public bar or a freezing death out on the pavement after the ban is introduced. The jokes come enveloped in a cloud of smoke from the roll-ups that are the favoured brand in these parts. They talked with a healthy mixture of ridicule and contempt about the politicians who rule their lives. These are not people who regard their health or longevity as the prime concerns of life; they put small pleasures first. It is their choice — something that doctors and politicians find hard to comprehend."

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