Above, a scene from the 1969 British sex comedy “X film” “School for Sex”.
There has been much criticism about the advanced ages of the two main candidates for the US Presidency in-re the upcoming US election. The one thing however that both men have in abundance is life experience. It is this life experience that can guide one and prevent one from making mistakes – as you can remember the mistakes you made in your youth.
The image above is one that features in my past. In 1969 I was 14 and obviously at school. This one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allerton_Grange_School.
Of course, being what we lads used to call “an X film” it had an age 18 limit – one had to be 18 in order to buy a ticket and see the film. Of course, 14 year old lads are as keen as 18 year old lads about seeing attractive young ladies in a state of undress, preferably, totally – naked.
Thus it was we were all determined to see School for Sex – a 1969 British sex comedy film directed, produced and written by Pete Walker.
Naked ladies was something that the film offered and we were determined to avail ourselves of it!
There was one lad whose appearance belied his youth. At 14 he could pass for 18. As a result six of us decided to “knock off school” one afternoon and to take the bus into Vicar Lane in Leeds whereupon we made our way to the Plaza cinema on New Briggate!
Above, the Plaza cinema circa 1975.
Now clearly we had a problem. Whilst our stubble faced friend could gain entry, we who had no need of a shaver at the time, could not! As a result our friend bought a ticket and entered and when the lights went out he got out of his seat, went to the fire escape, and let us in. This was possible but this required some planning and preparation. This because there were two fire escape doors. One that opened in the auditorium and another that opened onto Harrison Street that ran between New Briggate and Vicar Lane from where we had alighted from the bus! Since the fire door could only be opened from inside the auditorium a small wedge had to be inserted under it to ensure that it would not swing shut, the door had to be just ajar to prevent a member of the cinema’s staff closing it! Having temporarily secured the door, our friend then ran to the outer fire escape, opened it and we entered quickly our friend running back to the ajar fire door to remove the wedge and the six of us nonchalantly walked into the darkened auditorium to take out unpaid for seats! At the end of the performance we who had not paid left the same way we had come in! We ran up Harrison Street and ran across New Briggate to wait at the bus stop for the #20 or the #21 bus home! We had purchased a packet of 20 Woodbine cigarettes so we could appear to be adults during the film!
Woodbines were high tar unfiltered cigarettes. They were cheap and thus popular! Did I inhale? No! I did not want to draw attention to myself were I to cough and splutter! None of us inhaled and for that reason!
So……………… As the Unfortunate Sunak’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill makes it’s way through Parliament it’s emplacement upon the Statute Book being entirely due to the support from the opposition benches – ALWAYS a bad look for a government – one can only reflect upon one’s own misspent youth secure in the knowledge that no matter how long and how repeatedly one tells a youngster that they are making a mistake, the youngster in question persists and one has to accept that people have to learn first hand from the mistakes they make!
I understand why the Unfortunate Sunak is so keen to have this Bill become an Act: It is something that will remain on the statute book following the arrival of a Labour government! As a father of two daughters he has an understandable concern about young people taking up the addiction of tobacco smoking.
The BIG BIG problem with the Unfortunate Sunak’s Bill is of course the age at which it becomes legal to purchase tobacco products! In the case of “X rated” movies, the age in 1969 was 18 and in 2024 it is still 18! In other words, whilst it was unlawful for the Plaza cinema to knowingly sell a ticket for viewing such a film to our stubble blessed friend when our friend and indeed us reached the age of 18 we would be able to legally purchase such tickets and see the film ourselves. Of course, Dear Reader, you will note that we all had committed criminal offences! We had gained entry into the cinema without paying and our friend had assisted five offenders!
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill intends to make it illegal for those persons born on or after 1 January 2009 to consume tobacco products legally – even when they are well into middle age!
This is a deeply draconian and authoritarian bill!
This Bill could not more clearly demonstrate that a cigarette paper could not be placed between Starmer and Sunak in their overall political philosophies!
Should it become an Act, it is inevitable that offences under Section 2 (below) of the Bill will take place!
2 Purchase of tobacco etc on behalf of others
(1) It is an offence for a person aged 18 or over to buy, or attempt to buy, any
of the following on behalf of a person born on or after 1 January 2009—
(a) a tobacco product;
(b) a herbal smoking product;
20(c) cigarette papers.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 [£2,500] on the standard scale.
Source: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-04/0189/230189.pdf
Herewith the BBC report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68825322