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• Byrne still fuming about 'censorship' of smoking ban in theatres  

SCOTS playwright John Byrne has continued his campaign for an exemption to the smoking ban for theatres.

Byrne claims that the ban on lighting up on the stage is "censorship" and makes performances of plays unrealistic.

Although the smoking ban was brought in by the Labour-Lib Dem coalition more than a year before the SNP came to power, the legislation had cross-party support.

Byrne, whose partner is Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, said: "One of the things which they have not acted on is reversing the ban on smoking on stage during plays. I wrote to Alex Salmond after the election asking him to change the law and I received a reply from a civil servant saying they were not going to change. It's a form of censorship and it's wrong."

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