The N2D Social Club is now officially open for membership. It's been a busy time getting all the legal requirements for the club but we are finally there.
This would've taken a lot longer if it was not for Bobi. His experience and knowledge has been invaluable, so much so that Bobi is now actually running the club. N2D Social Club is an entity on it's own and will remain so. Apart from the shopping trips to Adinkerke etc, the minibus will be used by various community groups for outings and the like. The groups so far are Normandy Veterans, Royal Navy Association, Shopmobility Sheffield and the East Riding Disabled Association (all contain smokers).
These smokers won't be banned from smoking on the minibus ... smoking is allowed on the N2D minibus. This is just one of our ways of fighting back against the discrimination against smokers.
So, contact Bobi re membership at bob@n2d.me.uk ... the website is N2D.SC Bobi will handle all your requests.
Setting this lot up has cost a fortune because we want it to be right. We realise that we will probably be targeted at times but if that's the cost of making a stand for smokers ... so be it!
Become a member of what we see as a unique club and if you can donate anything to help the club it will be greatly appreciated. We want YOU to be part of it and become YOUR club. lf you can donate towards the costs that would be fantastic ( donate button top of page on left) ... every little helps. We also need your help in other ways too. Bobi will give you the info on that. The club is non-profit!
Get onboard and walk the walk!
This would've taken a lot longer if it was not for Bobi. His experience and knowledge has been invaluable, so much so that Bobi is now actually running the club. N2D Social Club is an entity on it's own and will remain so. Apart from the shopping trips to Adinkerke etc, the minibus will be used by various community groups for outings and the like. The groups so far are Normandy Veterans, Royal Navy Association, Shopmobility Sheffield and the East Riding Disabled Association (all contain smokers).
These smokers won't be banned from smoking on the minibus ... smoking is allowed on the N2D minibus. This is just one of our ways of fighting back against the discrimination against smokers.
 |
| Thanks for this, Martin! |
So, contact Bobi re membership at bob@n2d.me.uk ... the website is N2D.SC Bobi will handle all your requests.
Setting this lot up has cost a fortune because we want it to be right. We realise that we will probably be targeted at times but if that's the cost of making a stand for smokers ... so be it!
Become a member of what we see as a unique club and if you can donate anything to help the club it will be greatly appreciated. We want YOU to be part of it and become YOUR club. lf you can donate towards the costs that would be fantastic ( donate button top of page on left) ... every little helps. We also need your help in other ways too. Bobi will give you the info on that. The club is non-profit!
Get onboard and walk the walk!
From strength to strength :)
ReplyDeleteMy application for membership went off last night already.
Club joined. £50 donation on its way.
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard guys and thanks. :)
DeleteCouple of things
ReplyDeleteI'm updating the n2d.sc website as fast as I can, there is an alternative to n2d.sc on n2d.me.uk which is a mirror site (hence the e=mail accounts are on this site)I cannot as yet get the donate button to work on social club site so PLEASE use button on top left of page, the account used is Mick's (your treasurer).
We will have our own (club) paypal account as soon as the paperwork can be completed.
Please visit the club website
bobi
Paypal donations and membership payments now working on n2d.sc and n2d.me.uk
Deletebobi
Although I am a bit far away to use the bus, I will join the club in appreciation for your help and expert advice resulting in me being re-imbursed for my property stolen by untruthful thugs.
ReplyDeleteMy donation will be sent asap. Best of luck to all concerned, Great job done.
Cheers George ... love your new pic! lol
Delete"love your new pic! lol"
DeleteI don't (assuming you mean the UDF badge). But then again I collected for the 'Heros In H Block' and was a member of Caidres Sinn Fein even. I'm also not keen on his implication that the UDF were brave and PIRA cowards...truth is that one man's definition of bravery/cowardice is not another's... any man who drives a lorry packed with home made explosives through London is probably many things but not a coward.
And I'd also guess that if RIRA wanted him dead he would be.
That should have read 'UDR' not 'UDF'-force of habit.
DeleteErrrr no, the pic next to his name in the post ... the pirate smoking skeleton in the wheelchair :)
Delete*SNORK* Yet again The Blocked Dwarf shoots and scores...an own goal. DUH! At this rate I should play for England-couldn't do worse than that current team.
DeleteHa ha Blocked dwarf, not to worry. But by way of explaination, some UKBA Employees think they would be in some danger if I lost the case over a small amount of tobacco and paranoia got them in a state of fear and alarm. Question is what sort of State of Fear and Alarm would the be in if they stumbled on 10 kilo of heroin. I was pointing out the boys and girls volunteering for the local UDR had no nanny to cry to, They got real threats every day, these goonies are having an overactive immagination by saying I might Google their address. WHAT SHITE.
DeleteE
Chaps! Just a word about the interview which occurred to me while I was listening to the broadcast, but which slipped out of my mind.
ReplyDeleteOn the point of avoiding taxes (and thus, supposedly, depriving the NHS, etc), THE GOPVERNMENT DOES NOT WANT OUR TAXES! IT WANTS US TO STOP SMOKING!
A point worth remembering?
Presenter: "Don't you think that you are morally out-of-order by not paying UK tobacco taxes, and thus depriving, say, the NHS, of funding?"
Interviwee: "Certainly not! The Secretary of State for Health wants us all to STOP smoking. That means that he does not WANT our tax monies. He has said so himself"
Another inherent contradiction.
Goonies go on and on about baccy seizures but do you wanna know how many prosecutions they make for smuggling? You can count on one hand the prosecutions!!!! l'll give you an example, in Portsmouth last year a couple got stopped with 230kg of baccy and they got their baccy seized AND THEN THEY WALKED! Why is this? lt's because they have no factual evidence that would ever stand up in a criminal court.
DeleteI think Mick knows his answer to the 'pay duty' question was a little weak and slow in coming. He isn't a trained Media man like Simon and I for one think he did amazingly well for a cherry popping (as I'm sure you do too.
DeleteSo it was left to Dave to make the point about the amount of duty/NHS.
I'm hoping next time Mick will fire back something along the lines of "I wish the Government would reduce the duty so it simply covered the cost of supposedly smoking related illnesses to the NHS...hell no one would need to shop abroad if they did. As it is the duty pays the cost some three times over"
You're right, BD. I was a bit taken aback by that question. :-) I was hoping that it had sounded like a dramatic pause, but the eventual answer wasn't dramatic enough.
DeleteI don't plan to become a trained media liar, but I'll be quicker next time. :-)
Gotta say, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the support we're getting for the Social Club and Bus. My responsibility gland is kicking in, I haven't used it since the kids grew up. Erk.
My thanks to all those who are trusting us, those we already know and those we don't.
Thank you for this, I have just sent my email to join and offered to make a donation.
ReplyDeleteJohn Gibson
My membership request has been sent, donation will follow shortly
ReplyDeleteQuick question, When do we pay the club money ?
ReplyDeleteI probly missed the answer in a previous thread, So thought I would ask again.
Thanks
Garry
Indeed you did Garry ... it said "So, contact Bobi re membership at bob@n2d.me.uk ... the website is N2D.SC Bobi will handle all your requests."
DeletePaypal is operational on N2D.SC :)
Whats the BUS situation for us west of the Pennines
ReplyDeleteGtr Manchester ,Lancashire,Merseyside Etc
Do we need a full bus load and do all travellers have to be members of the club
FreeGoths
The first trip is mainly for those east and south of the great divide..We are quite happy to venture into the wild west, Bolton Blackburn and even Blackpool.It would be helpful if you can give an idea of the numbers etc we will come.. Slot available Aug 8... see website n2d.sc
Deletebobi
"situation for us west of the Pennines
ReplyDeleteGtr Manchester ,Lancashire,Merseyside Etc"
Move to England? :p...or at least to the DMZ (ie the Midlands) if you can't face all that sunshine.
In my earlier post, I suggested that SH might consider the idea that an answer to the tax avoidance accusation might be that the Health Sec does not want our taxes.
ReplyDeleteHeaven forbid that anyone might interpret that as a criticism of Mike. It was just a suggestion for future occasions, and I think that it is a good one!
The only problem is that of terminology in order not to appear to be a 'smartarse'. It is a matter fact that, according to his own words, the Health Sec wants "Tobacco companies to have no business in the UK" That is what he said. His dept and Parliament have said again and again that they want people to stop smoking. It follows that they do not care about the duty income. So, if, in an interview, a presenter mentions the question of 'defrauding' the taxpayer, it ought to be easy to say that the Gov do not want our money. So what's the problem? They don't want the duty income, so why should I bother?
There's also the point that EU law says that if you impose extra duty on tobacco the only way you can do this is if the extra taxes are 'ring-fenced' for the health services. UK ignores that.
DeleteI see that you plan to run to Real L'Auberge which looks like the site of the original Eastenders ( Dave West) shop at Adinkerke. There was a fuel station and cafe with a shed behind it for fags and baccy.
ReplyDeleteIt was a real smugglers den with chaps putting 50g pouches in black bin liners which they laid across car boot and covered with beer crates.
Yes, l went to see that one with the owner, Peter. As for the black bin liners with 50g pouches covered by beer crates ... how totally bloody ridiculous! lf you're stopped and searched that guarantees you lose everything! Plain stupidity!
DeleteWrapping pouches in anything except gift paper if they are presents is probably a bad idea. It seems that BF take the '(7) the nature of the goods, including the nature and condition of any package or container' to mean black shrink wrap and bin bags are a sure sign of 'concealment' and therefore smuggling.
DeleteNot a thing I've ever done, SH&BD, but these guys weren't getting caught that often back in the old HM Customs days at Dover and, having chatted with a few of them, knew the risks.
DeleteRemember there weren't the checks that we get subjected to, these days, like passport scans and possibly ANPR.
Overall I fully agree that concealment defeats ones argument that goods are for personal use and should never be attempted. The excise goods in my car are always on top of other shopping.
We have a high regard for the old HM Customs. ln those days you could actually get a response if you had a complaint or similar. They gave their name and contact details incl phone numbers. We always found them to be professional.
DeleteTry talking to someone today after coming through the ports/airports. You're hit with secrecy and whitewash. Worst is the guy who we call 'Penfold" at the Complaints Team. He doesn't read anything ... just puts out a complete whitewash every time. In fact it's probably a standard reply letter ... and "Penfold" is just the coffee machine!
National Post Seizure Unit has gone the same way ... just staffed by coffee machines now!
Talked to a few of the old HM Customs ... majority have retired or are just awaiting and running time out so they can retire. They don't have a lot of respect for what their profession has turned into.
Looking forward to taking one of your trips SH with the greatest of pleasure. At least I'll be amongst ordinary people.
ReplyDeleteJust slightly off topic. I left a comment on the Forest site about the "Freedom Dinner".
Just read the infantile rant that Clark has in his reply.
This just shows his immaturity as an adult. What a pampered thin skinned pillock!
Dennis
We're off to Real L'auberge for one simple reason its the cheapest diesel!! It was eastenders then a cyriot couple took over I think. Its part of the history of Adinkerke..
Deletebobi
Back in the days when I ran a diesel ( no longer do the mileage) that was our reason for going there and paying, by CC, in Belgian Francs.
DeleteThere was always a queue of British cars at the pumps.
A point on the "concealment" issue.
ReplyDeleteI have very little experience (so far), of driving through Customs. I know they always suggested that you should have your Excise Goods in plain view, like on the back seat, but I'm not convinced that that's reasonable. I don't see why they shouldn't be in a holdall or trolleycase. And puting them in the boot seems like a common-sense thing for a driver to do. "Never leave valuables where they can be seen."
Being told to put them on display to anyone glancing in the window, amounts to a random search, which is not allowed for travellers within the EU.
Putting them in the boot seems reasonable, but not filling the spare tyre or repacking them in coffee jars!
Maybe I'm wrong about this. Regular readers will know that I'm a bit more combative with Customs than we would recommend to others.
The views expressed above are not necessarily those of the management. :-)
Zaphod, When I put a box of GV in the boot or 2kgs of tubing tobacco in my ol'Bundeswehr kitbag then that is for ease of transportation ie there is no intent to conceal but I suppose one might play safe and use see-through plastic bags and boxes? I doubt any officer has ever claimed that goods in a suitcase,bag or boot were being concealed? Although I suppose that they might claim 'concealment' if one didn't consent to the voluntary x-raying...
ReplyDeleteI'm also pretty sure that having bottles, boxes of bottles and 1kg boxes of tobacco 'loose' on the back seat is actually illegal as anything transported in a vehicle most be secured. Brake hard on the slip road coming out of port and that 6 pack of those small french beer bottles on the parcel shelf will do the backseat passenger a whole world of hurt.
@Zaphod
ReplyDeleteI've been driving through UK customs for 47 years so moderately experienced.
With a vehicle at risk I've never attempted to bring undeclared goods into UK. In fact, when I've been in doubt, I've declared items to customs only to be told that they weren't interested.
It is advisable to keep high value tobacco products from view, except at customs, as quite a lot of cars get robbed in Calais supermarket car parks. It's best to make Adinkerke ones last port of call before returning to UK.
The people I referred to in the old Adinkerke days were out and out smugglers. Going back ten years ago they could easily make £1,000 plus per trip using an old banger. Many were elderly people topping up their pensions.
Next trip we'll be bringing back a rotisserie oven to replace our Moulinex that we brought back about 12 years ago.
I drive through customs 8-10 times a year. My tobacco is always in a large sportsbag in the boot.It's for convenience and security. We were pulled into the shed at Dover this week for a check and were asked what was in the bag. I told him 4kgs of baccy and 500 cigarillos and he never even asked to see it.After checking passports he waved us through.
DeleteLet's face it, you wouldn't expect to walk through as a foot pax with all your baccy in your arms while trailing an empty bag.
eezyrider
I see the French driving law about carrying breathalyser kits comes into force today with 4 month period of grace.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18662555
There's an 11 Euro fine for not having kits but Halfords are doing them for £5.99 with 2 year shelf life.
John, thanks for the Halfrauds tip I was wondering today where I could get some-besides ebay of course. Annoyingly Dunkerque is still in France, just, and it would be just my luck to get stopped by the 'flics' 5 klicks before the Belgian Border on my way through to Germany next month.
DeleteYet another ₤5.99...and I still need to get some reflective vests...and a warning triangle..and a first aid kit (German requirement). Ugh.
oh and check my Tom Tom and the Sat Nav on my Not-So-Smart phone.
Après moi, le fucking déluge, mes amis.
If the law says you have to carry a breathalyser, and you do; you can't use it or you won't have one any more.
ReplyDeleteIf the law said you must carry two, (so you can use one); you still can't use one. (Cos you'd then only have one left!)
Perhaps the law should make you carry five? Ah, but then...
Anyway, I've been busy all day making overhead luggage racks in the bus. I hope our passengers will be impressed by the craftmanship. Nobody ever appreciates things like that.
Who ever sticks something on a shelf, and thinks, "Wow, what a fine shelf this is. Look at the elegant structure, the economy of material, the clever way he's used up those rusty second-hand screws where they don't show"? The world is full of Philistines!
Rant over, I've enjoyed myself. I let SH put the amps and speakers in, which should have been my job really. :-)
Zaphod
ReplyDeleteI quote from elsewhere...
Ingenuity, plus courage, plus work, equals miracles.
ER
@TBD
DeleteI picked up hi-viz jackets on eBay when that rule came in. Have carried warning triangle for 47 years. Was checked in Austria about 40 years ago for first aid kit.
Knowing Les Flics' idea of a random check at Chunnel/Ports it's worth being up to date.