SIR - Whose side is Graham Hoyle on? (T&A, December 18) A smoking ban that is not popular amongst the majority of the electorate has been enacted and what does Mr Hoyle do in protest? Further hit the very people who are suffering the most from the ban.

Is my thinking awry or is it his? The pubs are smoke-free and the outsides are littered (albeit temporarily, I hope) with dog ends, etc, no worse than the fish and chip papers and pizza wraps, I dare say.

So how is his boycotting of places that have to abide by the law going to help anyone?

I have been a non-smoker since 1977 and I think it is a draconian law and in line with the persecution of the motorist and the London motorists but it is the law and the only way it will be removed from the statute books is by besieging MPs surgeries and demanding it.

When enough MPs think their livelihood is being threatened, that is the time there will be action.

Missing a few evenings out will not do anything to help anyone.

Phil Boase, Elizabeth Street, Wyke