Conservative MP Esther McVey has been criticised for a social media post in which she quoted a famous Holocaust poem in relation to reports the government could ban smoking in pub gardens and other public outdoor spaces.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, on Thursday, said “more details will be revealed”, when asked if the government was considering a ban.

Responding to the news, Ms McVey, a former Cabinet minister, shared a post on X of Martin Niemöller’s poem, which discusses the failure to prevent the Holocaust during World War Two.

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The post quickly drew criticism, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews calling it an “ill-considered and repugnant action”.

“We would strongly encourage the MP for Tatton to delete her tweet and apologise for this breathtakingly thoughtless comparison,” it posted on X.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, meanwhile, told Ms McVey to “get a grip”.

  • mannycalavera
    91·
    3 months ago

    Seriously though smoking bans are dumb and just lead to more ways to punish poor people.

    I think by now there’s a strong case that smoking in general punishes people. Not just the poor.

    • Nakoichi [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      31·
      3 months ago

      Okay but I don’t smoke indoors, if I am on the street and someone is coming my way I will put it out or move away. Only one I am punishing is my self and as for its harmful effects I am a fuckin adult I can do what I want if it isn’t harming someone else. I am also a strict abolitionist when it comes to drug crimes of every sort. Prohibition is only ever a tool of repression and that goes for ALL drugs so fuck that.

      You want to treat the problem? Fine, treat it without punishing the users but the system that causes people to seek reprieve in various vices.

      I would sooner be in favor of banning alcohol even though I like it.

      • mannycalavera
        51·
        3 months ago

        Sure, there’s a strong case for alcohol too. But most medical experts over the past forty years or more agree that smoking is by far worse.

        Being addicted to smoking as a poor person is not only putting an immense burden on your health (one that you’re going to lose) but on your finances too. I don’t know where you live but here in th UK smoking isn’t exactly cheap. Even if you take the view that you’re an adult and it’s your choice, it still puts a massive burden on the health service. So I’d be favour of you continuing to smoke out of choice if you covered your medical bills for life and didn’t burden the NHS, for example.

        I think it’s right that government incentives healthier life choices but sometimes it’s also right that they take firmer action. I feel this is one of those cases. Just like raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes each year until nobody is eligible. That’s not to say they can’t do any of the other educational pieces at the same time.

      • Jaccident@lemm.ee
        2·
        3 months ago

        Thanks for being a conscientious smoker; I’m afraid you’re in a witheringly small minority. If someone drinking a pint could blow a potent cloud of second hand pint into my personal space, then I might agree there is an equivalence, but there isn’t.

        • Nakoichi [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          If someone drinking a pint could blow a potent cloud of second hand pint into my personal space

          Yeah but someone having drank a few pints can and do frequently blow through intersections and into people’s personal space killing them instantly.

          I’ve lost more people that way than to any other substance abuse. I think you’re right that it’s not equavalent: Alcohol still infinitely worse