However depressing today's Government announcement may be, there is some good news.
Long gone, for example, are the days when it felt as though Forest was fighting a lone battle against the anti-smoking movement.
For the first time I can remember, there is a genuine coalition of forces lined up against against excessive tobacco control, as a letter in today's Daily Telegraph reveals. It's signed by:
Patrick Basham, director, Democracy Institute
Dr Eamonn Butler, director, Adam Smith Institute
Donna Edmunds, director of Research, Progressive Vision
Dr Helen Evans, director, Nurses for Reform
Dr Tim Evans, chairman, Economic Policy Centre
Daniel Hamilton, director, Big Brother Watch
Angela Harbutt, executive director, Liberal Vision
Tim Knox, acting director, Centre for Policy Studies
Mark Littlewood, director-general, IEA
Matthew Sinclair, director, The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Simon Richards, director, The Freedom Association
Meanwhile I have written article for ConservativeHome – aWhatever happened to the party of business, deregulation and personal responsibility?.
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You should also write to your newspaper and to your Conservative MP, if you have one.