No Smoking Day - it's your call
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 6:40 There hasn't been this much excitement around No Smoking Day for years. We must thank Health Secretary Andrew Lansley for giving this tired old wreck the kiss of life.
As I write I am about to be interviewed by BBC Radio Cumbria followed by Radio Sussex, Radio Devon and Radio Cambridgeshire. My colleague Tom Miers from The Free Society is doing Radio Merseyside and I'm then due to appear on Radio Lincolnshire, Radio Sheffield and Radio Shropshire. We've also arranged for someone to appear on BBC Radio Wales between 9.15 and 10.00. I suspect there may be one or two more interviews before the day is out.
One that got away was Five Live Breakfast. I was contacted yesterday afternoon but they decided eventually to book a retailer plus our old friend Philip Davies MP to oppose someone from ASH.
(Yesterday, in response to a question from Davies who described the possible introduction of plain packaging as "nanny state politics of the worst kind", Lansley said that the forthcoming tobacco control plan would have a clear purpose – to reduce the "number of people smoking and as a consequence avoidable deaths and disease".)
Anyway we understand that the policy announcement will take place at 9.30 in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement. In the meantime, in the early hours of this morning, the BBC published this report - Plans to target sale of tobacco products to be unveiled - which provides a little more information. It sounds plausible but watch this space.
Update: I was told last night that tobacco control would be the subject of Your Call, the Five Live phone-in with Nicky Campbell (hence the title of this post). In fact, they are talking about religious bigotry surrounding Old Firm games in Glasgow so I have edited this post accordingly.
Reader Comments (1)
'One that got away was Five Live Breakfast. I was contacted yesterday afternoon but they decided eventually to book a retailer plus our old friend Philip Davies MP to oppose someone from ASH'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00z7b7p/5_live_Breakfast_09_03_2011
2.06.00 in
Nicky Campbell usually gives the impression that he is anti-smoking, but after the debate he said 'I haven't smoked for ten years, but I need one now'.