Libertarians 1-0 Prohibitionists

Back from Durham.

I stayed overnight following the Durham Union Society debate, 'This House would ban all tobacco products'.

Good turnout for a Friday night. The chamber was three quarters full.

And the result? The libertarian argument won - just.

It wasn't all plain sailing, though. Remember the dinner suit I wrote about here?

Well, during the pre-debate dinner a nervous waitress (it was her first day apparently) dropped a large portion of Eton mess all over me.

Other guests watched in horror (or ghoulish fascination) as a mixture of cream, meringue and raspberries landed on the front of my jacket.

Perhaps it was the effect of the wine but I didn't flinch. I scooped most of it off with my spoon and a hot wet cloth did the rest.

Anyway I had other things on my mind.

A few minutes earlier I had received the potentially bad news that our opponents had been given one of the Union's best debaters to help put their case.

Many years ago, speaking at the English Speaking Union in London, the late Lord Harris and I were surprised to find ourselves pitted against a pair of world championship debaters.

Ralph Harris was chairman of Forest and an experienced public speaker in the House of Lords and elsewhere.

Nevertheless our young 'anti-smoking' opponents blew us away with their debating skills.

They confessed later they were both smokers. We would never have guessed!

This time it worked to our advantage, I think. It's great if you can make an audience laugh but it can distract from the message. (Boris Johnson is a prime example of this.)

Opposing the motion with me was Nick Barton, a retired headmaster who is now a tutor at Durham.

What a lovely man. He brought with him a number of pipes and snuff boxes that have passed down through his family, including a pipe that was smoked on the battlefield in the First World War.

He spoke about them, and the pleasure and comfort they had given several generations of his family. He spoke quietly - albeit with a twinkle in his eye - and kept it personal. It was affecting, and effective.

In contrast our principal opponent, Dr George Rae, chairman of the North East BMA, bombarded us with so much information it was hard to keep up - or take him seriously after he insisted he was against the nanny state.

I've met Dr Rae before. He's very likeable but I almost screamed when he repeated the well-worn mantra that nicotine is more addictive than heroin (and, by implication, more dangerous).

The floor contributed some interesting points and questions. It was a very good-humoured atmosphere - none of the anti-smoking bile you sometimes get in these debates - and I sensed it was going our way.

Unlike Oxford Union debates, DUS debates are won by the side that gets the biggest "acclamation" - that is, the biggest roar of support from the chamber - at the end of the debate.

Last night the proposition got a reasonable shout and for a moment I thought they might have won, but the roar in favour of the opposition was unmistakably louder.

The chairman (a smoker) duly announced that the motion had been defeated.

Afterwards we went for a drink courtesy of the event sponsors Grant Thornton and I spoke to a number of students who were at the debate.

I was impressed by how articulate and libertarian most of them were.

One, Jasmine Rahman, also came to Smoke On The Water and The Liberty Lounge.

A very cool guy smoking a roll up said he was a member of DUCA (Durham University Conservative Association). His family lives in Jersey and they own a pub in Cornwall.

He told me that last year he was reported to the university authorities for smoking within ten metres of his hall of residence.

Had he been "convicted" he would have faced some form of "community service". Instead he fought the case - and won.

I don't know how old he is - 21 perhaps - but the Tories should fast track him into Parliament.

Jasmine too.

I'm sure they'll go far.