The new issue of The Publican's Morning Advertiser is out today.
It features a four-page cover wrap promoting the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign that was set up by Forest in the aftermath of the smoking ban.
Inside there are two pages of editorial that include a topical photo of Nigel Farage at the launch of the campaign in 2009.
To read it download the file here.
Inside the magazine is an additional three-page feature that reads:
Keeping tabs on the ban
Artist and smoker David Hockney once said, “A pub is not a health club”. And, according to Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest which runs the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign [SOPAC], “If the government can ban smoking in every pub and bar in the country they can also dictate people’s eating and drinking habits. Long-term that could have an enormous impact on the hospitality industry.”
The Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign was set up in 2009 to campaign for an amendment to the legislation so that pubs would be given the option of having a separate well-ventilated smoking room.
“This policy is quite common in mainland Europe, for example, and it seems to work well because it gives everyone – customers, landlords, even staff – a choice,” says Clark, adding that he thinks it is “extraordinary” that the government has not carried out a comprehensive review of the impact of the smoking ban.
“Politicians and public health campaigners quote reports that suggest that heart attack admissions to hospital have come down since the smoking ban, but these reports have been discredited because heart admissions fluctuate and official figures show they were coming down well before the ban,” he says.
“Of course, a great many people, including customers and staff, prefer a smoke free environment and we respect that. We’re not asking for the ban to be repealed, just amended to give the industry and their customers, many of whom have deserted their local pub in the wake of the ban, some degree of choice.”
With this in mind, the Publican's Morning Advertiser (PMA) asked Forest a range of questions to help shed light on the core issues of which the pub trade should be aware.
PMA: How has the recent uplift in interest surrounding UKIP thrown the smoking ban back into the spotlight?
Forest: In the recent local elections UKIP secured almost one in every four votes cast (24%), winning 147 council seats, up from eight in 2009. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme before the elections, UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he wanted to amend the smoking ban and allow separate designated smoking rooms, the same policy advocated by the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign.
Farage’s comments provoked a storm of comment. Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston subsequently warned her party against trying to outflank UKIP as the party of ‘booze and fags’. The truth is a great many people – especially those who enjoy a pint and a cigarette – feel disenfranchised from the political system. Successive governments have slowly turned the screw on their habit and made it difficult, if not impossible, to enjoy a relaxing evening in their local pub.
Nigel Farage’s comments about the smoking ban, and his obvious love of a beer and a cigarette, have clearly not done UKIP or their leader any harm. This has not gone unnoticed in Westminster and we now have a great opportunity to have a national debate about the ban and, more important, how to secure the future of Britain’s ailing pub trade.
PMA: What can licensees do to show their support for an amendment to the ban?
Forest: We would encourage licensees to visit the Save Our Pubs and Clubs website and register their contact details. We can then alert them to the latest news and developments. They could host events, with our assistance, to help promote the campaign.
We can supply tools – window stickers, beer clips, beer mats, posters – to help promote the campaign via the local media. They could also invite customers to sign a petition to amend the ban. It’s important too that they contact their MP to explain why, in their opinion, the smoking ban should be amended.
PMA: How might the Localism Bill affect restrictions on smoking and how this can specifically affect the pub industry?
Forest: Even under the Localism Bill councils don’t have the power to enforce smoking bans in outdoor areas, except on council property. The Bill does however give local authorities greater responsibility for public health and we are concerned that some councils may use this as an excuse to discourage smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches and around public buildings, including pubs.
The threat may be small at present but it’s something the pub trade needs to be aware of and monitor because such policies have a habit of escalating very quickly, especially if a rogue councillor gets a bee in his bonnet about a particular issue. The industry has to be united in its opposition to further restrictions on smoking around hospitality venues.
PMA: In an ideal situation, what would be the outcome for the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign?
Forest: In a perfect world customers would have a choice of smoking and non-smoking pubs that would reflect customer demand. A ‘smoking pub’ would have modern air filtration systems so we are not advocating a return to the days of smoke-filled pubs.
An acceptable compromise would involve a relaxation of the ban that would allow separate, well-ventilated smoking rooms in pubs and bars. This would bring the UK into line with many countries in mainland Europe where smoking rooms work well and offer everyone – customers, proprietors and staff – the choice we are denied in the UK.
Our goal is greater choice for all. We have no problem with no-smoking pubs, we simply want publicans to have the option to introduce a smoking room if there is sufficient demand and it would help their business.
In difficult economic times an amendment to the law would give the pub trade a significant boost. Given the fierce debate that would inevitably take place, this could generate huge interest in Britain’s pub culture. The trade should support the opportunity to sell itself as a forward-looking industry that seeks modern, technological solutions to issues such as smoking in public places and embraces all potential customers, whether they be smokers or non-smokers.
This is also a sociological issue because loneliness is a major problem in society, especially amongst the elderly. A lot of smokers, especially those who were used to going to the pub for a pint and a fag, now stay at home, often on their own. The pub industry should be fighting to entice them back, not just for the good of their business but for the good of society. One way to get them back is to offer comfortable smoking rooms where they can drink and smoke in a sociable environment.
PMA: What’s the next best option to an amendment to the legislation?
Forest: We will never stop campaigning for an amendment to the ban – too many people feel the legislation is excessive and unfair – but the Government should at least relax some of the petty regulations on outdoor smoking shelters. To insist that outdoor shelters are 50% open to the elements is petty and spiteful. If they have the space, publicans should be allowed to erect proper smoking rooms, not shelters, outside their pubs. There is no good reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to do this.
PMA: What sort of time frames is the campaign working within?
Forest: We are currently looking no further than the next general election. If the leading parties want to capture some of the ground they have lost to UKIP one area they should look at is the smoking ban. Our target is to convince at least one mainstream party to agree to review the impact of the smoking ban and include that commitment in their manifesto. Obviously we would welcome the support of the pub trade.
Beyond that, our hope is that whichever party is in government will review the impact of the ban. The review should include a public consultation so that all stakeholders, including the ordinary pub goer, can make their views known.
PMA: Could UKIP publicity potentially harm the pub trade’s credentials, or help it?
Forest: UKIP’s support for an amendment to the smoking ban and Nigel Farage’s very obvious love of a ‘pint and a fag’ can’t do the trade any harm. It’s certainly a welcome relief from all those politicians and parties who are forever telling us how much to drink or what we should eat.
It would be unwise however for any industry or campaign to align itself with any political party because that could be counter-productive and would almost certainly alienate representatives or supporters of other parties.
The Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign welcomes Nigel Farage’s comments about the smoking ban. We hope that it will lead to a long overdue debate about the impact of the ban and the need for an amendment to the legislation. More important, we hope it will generate a national discussion about Britain’s pub culture and what can be done to revive an industry that has faced enormous problems in recent years.
PMA: Is there a possibility of smoking being banned in beer gardens and outside pub areas? Explain more about the potential for further threat to the industry.
Forest: The previous Labour government was committed to reviewing the impact of the smoking ban in 2010, three years after the ban was introduced in England and Wales in 2007. Although it would have given opponents of the ban an opportunity to highlight the negative impact of the legislation, there was concern that the ‘review’ might prompt an extension of the ban to outdoor areas – entrances and beer gardens, for example.
In the event the Coalition Government chose not to review the impact of the ban and the threat of the ban being extended to areas outside pubs has receded. The threat hasn’t gone away, however, and the hospitality industry shouldn’t be complacent. If the smoking ban was extended to outdoor areas it could drive away many more customers and provide the final nail in the coffin for many pubs that have adapted, often with difficulty, to the smoking ban.
It would also be a kick in the teeth for all those businesses that have spent large sums of money creating half decent outdoor areas where customers can smoke in semi comfort. No-one should doubt the determination of the tobacco control industry to drive smoking – and smokers – to the margins of society. Inevitably that has an effect on Britain’s pubs. The industry should be aware of the threat and must be united and ready to act if the threat becomes reality.
PMA: Do you have other message for the pub trade?
Forest: We lost the battle for exemptions to the smoking ban because the pub industry, the BBPA in particular, decided it wanted a level playing field across the hospitality sector and wouldn’t support an exemption for private members’ clubs.
The pub trade has to understand there can never be a level playing field, not even within the industry. Not every pub has space for a separate smoking room, or even a comfortable outdoor smoking area, but who wants every pub to be the same? The trade must embrace diversity, and that includes a range of smoking policies (including a comprehensive ban) that can be adopted according to the wishes of the publican, his customers and his staff.
Above all, the trade should take a stand on this issue because the legislation represents exactly the type of excessive regulation the industry should oppose. It’s never too late to amend a bad law and it’s not too late to relax the smoking ban.
