Smoking doesn't kill people, cars do and it's a fact ! Smoking just doesn't help with the situation. So the next time someone says to you "can you put that ciggy out?" reply with "do you drive?" if they say "yes" reply with "Well, i'll give up smoking if you stop Driving and polluting my airspace with your Vehicle.."

Oh, and if you own a pub i say good luck to you because you'll probably be shut in a few months time due to your inability to sound off and state you had a extractor fan.

No choice left in this stupid country...lets ban farting in the street ......

david, poole, england

If the Independent Party opposes this rubbish ban,I will be one of many to change my vote to theirs.
I am from Wales,and the Electorate were not even consulted on this.There should have been a vote.A democracy arent we???.
There should be "Smokers Pubs" and "Non Smokers Pubs" available....end of!!.We would soon see what pubs will have the Best Atmosphere.I do agree with restaurants being smoke free though.

Steve Evans, Port Talbot, Wales

That about sums it all up, the euro bods still want to smoke. This stupid law is restrictive, it does not allow "freedom of choice" as dictated by Euro Parliament. Pubs should have the choice of banning smokers or not. As for these so called "smoke police", all they will do is cause the actual police force more work as they try to enforce their will-and probably get a smack in the eye for their troubles! Question! Pub wall surrounding pub grounds-sit on wall facing pub you can legally smoke. Face the road, but still sitting on the pub wall-is that illegal? How about one leg either side of the wall? Is that half legal and half illegal? The whole thing is a joke and a contravention of European Laws.

Phil in Leicester, Leicester, England

Not only did our Government create the ban but they also expect the owners of the pubs clubs and cafe's to police this ban.
This in turn has created more hostility against them from the general public.
If this law is seen as unenforceable in our European parliament then our Government should scrap it without delay.
In general i agree with it, but people should be allowed to say if they want their premises to be smoking or non smoking, we are already dictated to enough with all their other stupid laws

Big Wullie, Glasgow, Scotland

Just goes to show what can be done if you stand up for what you believe and refuse to be bullied. Unfortunately, most of us British won't stand up in this way. I, like Nigel Farage, don’t want to be told by PC people what I can and cannot do - I am an adult and as such should be able to make my own decisions and do my own risk assessment. If choice were in place, which mostly it has been for a decade or more, then those particularly concerned about secondhand smoke could stay away from it and those who smoke along with those non smokers who enjoy the company of smokers, can still socialise happily.

From 1 July I will not be going out to any pub, club, restaurant, etc just as I have not been to the cinema since smoking was banned there.

Lyn Ladds, Worcester, Worcestershire

My view is simply that the anti- smoking ban is the most hateful,spiteful,extremist,intolerant piece of legislation which has ever been forced onto an unwilling public in the whole of my life.I am delighted to see that it is collapsing even before it has got started.

Bernard Mannix, Falmouth,Corwall,, England

The European Parliament has just thrown away any credibility it had.

Nice to see Mr Farage MEP being such a bad boy by smoking in the loos!

He's quick to denounce the gravy train, but is part of it himself: the UKIP is unelectable to Westminster, so they have to go somewhere else to go & sneer

Brian Connor, Toledo, Spain

If they smoke, and it's a public building, then when I get caught smoking, and I will (i actually don't smoke ) then I'll go to court and cite their behavior, and NO JUDGE ON EARTH will be able to find me Guilty. END OF BAN.

Alan Digby, Whitby, U.K.

Excellent news ... I fully understand the principle that lawmakers should abide by their own laws, but by the same token they show by example that the law is unworkable. It is not as if there were no sane alternatives.

Belinda, Edinburgh,

Hypocrites - one law for them / another for everybody else.

No wonder people don't support the EU.

Politicians make me sick - self-serving, arrogant, distant...need I go on?

Paul Bryant, Bristol, UK

Tobacco smoke is a deadly fume and as such no one should unvolontarily be exposed to to this serious health hazard. It is high time to protect all workers and public by solid labour laws, like in the case of asbestos.
These MEPs are foolish ignorants at best or corrupted tobacco industry dependants at worst and in no case worthy of confidence of any voter.

Marie Josée Betttelheim, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Nigel Tarage - Well done. Have my vote.

John Gibson, Birmingham, UK

Why doesn't everyone "live and let live". As a smoker I to am sick of being treated like a leper and put "out in the cold". I see no reason whatsoever of having a "room" in a public building or a smoking area in pubs and restaurants (not an outside canvas closet). We also have smoking bans so I don't go to movies (hire a dvd) don't go to pubs (have a drink at home without the added penalty of getting a traffic ticket) and will not go to a restaurant that doesn't have a "decent" smoking area. As for not smoking in one's car...well that's got to be the END.In conclusion I would add that I am am a "considerate smoker".

Mo, Benoni, South Africa

I,m sorry mr dalton but Democracy is not banning things ,a choice of smoking and non smoking areas or places is Democracy ! a poll was conducted which showed about 76% want choice and as far as foul smells caused by smoke which a lot of people like ,what about bad smells caused by body odour,flatulance,garlic do we ban these people or things as well from places?

chris whittaker, Blackpool, Lancashire

Is this the definition of a circular argument! such might be quite amusing if it were not actually so fundamental to the individual freedoms which arguably tore Europe apart in the last century(s) and which was a core rationale for the Treaty of Rome. J. Dalton, whilst respecting your opinion, history is riven with bans and decrees, hardy if any of which have proved workable let alone stood the test of time.
Before all these smoking bans became such a hot potato, smoking was in a natural decline across Europe; yet in the case of Ireland and Scotland, tax reveues from tobacco sales have increased above inflation- ergo the natural decline has reversed. Rather than being "an absolute discrace" , is this action not in reality a reflection of what is (or rather could) happen in the real world - Now there's a thought, and from the European parliament as well.

Peter Eveleigh, Bradford on Avon,

This article is nonsense. In France if you now smoke in a public place you will be fined: end of story.
It should be an honour to be an MEP; Nigel Farage just shows how he lets down those who were mislead enough to vote for him: he represents neither England nor Europe by his loutish behaviour

Peter GODDARD, Cheam, England

I never thought I'd say this, but - Well done the MEP!
BG

Bill Glanvill, Horsham, Sussex

Another example of why MEPs and their staff should give up the gravy train. If there's a ban then there's a ban. It's called democracy at work. We shouldn't have to pander to a small minority of addicts that insist on making the air smell foul. It's only a "personal freedom" issue to the very small minority that don't have the will power to quit.

James Dalton, London, UK

Yet more "Do as I say" rather than "Do as I do" from our masters.

Jasper, Chelmsford,

How do you become an MEP?

DW, Aberdeen,

At last some sense to all this.
Rather than calling this scandalous Deborah Arnott should re-read her triumphant "Smoke and Mirrors" press release from the Guardian (July 19th 2006) where she and Ian Wilmore of ASH proudly wrote that "Campaigning of this kind is literally a confidence trick".
This action by the MEP's is prabably the first time any smoker has had the opportunity to make any contribution to a committee decision.
Thank you Nigel Farage. Maybe you've shown me where my future votes should go.

Chris , Truro, Cornwall