IT would appear that Mr Spiteri has been watching too much BBC "telly."

His letter headlined "Smokes curb needed" is the product of the propaganda now routinely disseminated by the left-wing loony High Priests who now run the Boring Broadcasting Company, and for whom no news broadcast is complete without some mention of the dire perils of smoking, drinking and eating.

Mr Spiteri says that because 3,600 people die (fiddled statistics again?) from passive smoking, smoking should now be banned.

I love these instant solutions.

Being overweight, or as it is called by the politically correct - obesity - is now killing as many of us as smoking does. Would Mr Spiteri support rounding up all the overweight, and starving them back to their ideal weight?

Some 10,000 people a year die from ingesting the combustion products of diesel engines. Would Mr Spiteri support the banning of diesel-engined vehicles?

Single issue

Around 4,000 people a year are killed on our roads. Would Mr Spiteri support the banning of all road vehicles and conveyances?

And what about "alcohol?" Alcohol kills and injures vastly more people than passive smoking. Is Mr Spiteri in favour of banning alcohol?

Drugs? Total annual drug deaths kill some 4,000 a year - what does Mr Spiteri propose doing about that?

I appreciate where Mr Spiteri is coming from, but isn't "smoking" just another issue driven by the single issue fanatics who have smashed the tolerance that used to be the hallmark of our society?

Pubs and restaurants could ban smoking today. The only reason they don't is because they don't want to lose business (and profits) to a limited number of establishments, where smokers would still be welcome to smoke and spend their money.

N TAYLOR, Worcester.