Sunday 25 April 2010

Mea Culpa

I'm afraid I have been misleading you.

In the past, I have reported a government spend of £43m on smoking cessation arm-twisting services. Whenever the page is linked to, however, it disappears soon after, for some strange reason. It's almost as if there is something to hide.

New figures, though, show that I've been wrong all along. The total wasted spent has always been nearer to £52m.

My apologies.

Of course, since then the recession has bitten hard. As a result, public sector belt-tightening has, naturally, led to such expenditure being ...

Figures released showed almost a 20% rise in spending to £60.6 million, almost £9 million more than the same period in 2008.
... only increased by 20%.

Those frontline services must be protected, remember?


8 comments:

Frank Davis said...

Antismoking zealots must have the government in an armlock. How do they do it?

Anonymous said...

Sorry Dick,
There's something seriously wrong with your numbers for smoking cessation costs.
Since July 2007 the NRTprescription
costs MUST be in the hundreds of millions.The GPs and experts fees
need looking at.
The advertising,papers,Tv,Radio
hoardings,web,local government
promotions,quit campaigns etc etc
MUST add up to 100s of millions.
And then we have the real losses to
the government revenue,closures,
loss of jobs,loss of tax on draught
sales ,less tax on supermarket
sales and many more allied losses.

At a guess ,since July 2007 the
smoking ban has cost the government
at least £3-4 Billion

I wonder if some worthy MP couldgive us a more precise figure
if they dare (or allowed)


Nosey Parker

Unknown said...

Pah, figures...I could pull them outta ma armpit! As long as you save one person from dropping dead within half an hour after smelling one wiff of Second Hand Smoke then millions/billions are well spent! I just have to look out at the birds a singing under a cloud of smoke as the smokers are a passing by.

As nan would say: "what a fucking liberty!"

Anonymous said...

NO FRONT LINE NHS CUTS UNTIL THIS SHIT IS STOPPED.

THE 2010 THE UK NATIONAL SMOKING CESSATION CONFERENCE WILL TAKE PLACE IN GLASGOW ON 14/15 JUNE

IT COSTS £250 FOR 1 DAY AND £350 FOR 2 DAYS. SEE HOW THE NHS,PCTs AND PUBLIC BODIES ARE WASTING TAXPAYERS MONEY.

THERE ARE 340 DELEGATES REGISTERED SO FAR BUT THE LIST IS STILL OPEN.

HAVE A LOOK AT THE NAMES ON THE LIST.

IN 2009 OVER 800 DELEGATES ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE.

http://www.uknscc.org/2010_UKNSCC/delegate_list/delegate_list.html

PS Sorry for "shouting" but I am flaming mad at this waste of taxpayers money.

The witch from Essex said...

This is an industry now. Nothing about health at all.
Just a money making business at the expense of the taxpayer.
There is nothing that we can do to stop the machine rolling.
Surely the tax payers alliance should be screaming !!

Anonymous said...

The MP's MEP's are being bribed ,oops sorry "lobbied".
Yes, that must be it ,no other explanation.
Well think about it.
There must be a gain to be had there.
Anti smoking, anti alchohol is a good carrer now for a doctor who can't actually do the job of being a doctor properly.
Or perhaps a civil servant, (parasite), who sees an opportunity to shag the taxpayer for more.
As well as pharma gets to sell the shitty wharehouses full of smoking cessation products nobody want's. Oddly emough made from tobacco itself to the NHS admin ,(parasites).
It's all about breeding more parasites.
It's all about money and fraud.

BTS said...

The first party that vows to redirect this money back into vital frontline services - I'm thinking coke and hookers here - gets my vote..

Anonymous said...

The money spent on anti smoking
could have been sent to Greece
to help them implement their
smoking ban and while we are at it ,
lets get the IMF,WHO,WTC,UN,Goldman Sachs,Federal Reserve ,The Elders Of Zion,The Co-op and any other dodgy bastards to finance a clamp
down on pidgeon droppings.


Medusas Frisseurs
Chorlton cum Hardy