Tory MP Esther McVey criticised for 'repugnant' smoking ban tweet
Tory MP Esther McVey criticised for 'repugnant' smoking ban tweet
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".
"Thoughtless" and "repugnant" are used in the description on her passport.
This is like, through the looking glass levels of shit satire actually being real. Fucking clown.
First they came for the cigarettes but I did not speak out because I was not a smoker, then they came for blunt wraps but I did not speak out because I was not a stoner, then they came for the vape juice but I did not speak out because I was not a frat guy who wears wraparound shades, then they came for my nicotine gum and there was nobody left to speak out for me.
Seriously though smoking bans are dumb and just lead to more ways to punish poor people.
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.
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.