Hockney: I'm fuming over smoking ban

Published on Sunday 20 September 2009 19:08

DAVID Hockney says he "loathes" the UK government for interfering in his life by introducing the smoking ban.

The 72-year-old British artist, a lifelong smoker, is backing a cross-party group of MPs who want the ban to be relaxed to allow people to light up in designated rooms in pubs.

Hockney said he was appalled to find that his local caf in east Yorkshire no longer even allowed people to smoke at tables outside because the management were frightened that smoke would waft inside and breach the law.

The artist said Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his predecessor Tony Blair were responsible and he added: "I loathe them for it."

He said he would happily give the Prime Minister his views if they ever met, but he added that he did not move in political circles.

Smoking was banned in Scotland in all public indoor spaces, including work places, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs in 2006, and England followed suit the following year. The ban also applies in Northern Ireland and Wales.