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@letsavit the problem the govt has is the fiscal deficit is growing. They need to raise revenue, if they are losing tobacco revenue, and pharma aren't selling so many patches etc, they will seek to make the revenue up elsewhere, guess what the growing industry is, yes it's us!

Big boys are only as powerful as thier lawyers and they can have thier shitty cig a likes as far as I'm concerned as long as the leave rest alone. Let them have them as it may well be their nemisis, pun intended .

Read here yesterday 2million are vaping in the UK, smokers = about 20% of a population of around 65million I think. Do the math the UK the goverment would have noticed that tax loss already but remain quiet.

No they'll just say tax for non medically approved nic.

its not about public health, it's about money.

As a teacher, albeit a peripatetic music teacher, but working full-time in both primary and secondary schools, I will not comment too much on this for fear of further inciting the natives.
Suffice it to ask how many of you have done 4 hours work this evening for which you will never be paid money for? In the course of a week I probably do at least 20 hours of unpaid preparation, arranging music, writing reports and emailing and phoning my team to check all is well with their work ( I don't fall under Teachers Pay and Conditions, so am not allowed a small proportion of this as paid for in my contract). This is all 'part of the job', and 'goes with the territory'. Sometimes I wish I could have a job which ended with the strike of a clock, and which doesn't enter my thoughts until the start of the next working day. Sometimes I wish I could do something easy, where I don't have to think about everything I say and do, and have such influence over a child's development.
But then I would miss out on the chance to see that spark of creativity, of understanding and fulfillment, and most of all the joy of making music 'just for the hell of it'! There is nothing more satisfying than helping a child get to grips with a new technique, finding alternative ways of explaining until the 'lightbulb' moment happens, and then standing back and listening as they bloom into rounded young musicians.
That's why I work many more hours than I am paid for, and why school holidays are so welcome. People say 'the terms are too long; the children are burnt out by the end of them'. Spare a thought for the person who essentially cares for your child for 7 hours a day and then does all the relevant paperwork once that child has left for home. Don't they deserve time to recharge too?

Right, coat-rack's on the left, right? Thought I showed considerable restraint there . . .

I had a female primary school teacher that used to live a few doors away, and quite often took me to school in her car (a novelty at the time)... but she still taught me a lesson by taking my socks down and giving me 'the ruler' for being a prat, and standing me in the corner.

In grammar school, I had a teacher (actually there was a few) that used to grab you by the scruff of the neck and beat you up in the aisle.

I still love them dearly for teaching me 'values' and 'respect'.