Smoke On The Water 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 10:36 
We had a full house at Smoke On The Water last night.
Over 230 people attended the annual Forest boat party on the Thames which took place in typical British weather – a mixture of sun, showers and overcast sky.
Think tanks and pressure groups were represented by the Institute of Economic Affairs, The Freedom Association and the Adam Smith Institute.
There were a significant number of parliamentary researchers and advisors.
And we were delighted to welcome supporters of the libertarian Liberty League.
The usual crowd was there too, of course.
The aim of the evening, apart from having fun, was to promote Forest's No, Prime Minister campaign. We had a small team that spent the evening inviting guests to sign a letter to David Cameron. And many did. He should get them this morning!
Unveiling a poster, 'Freedom Up In Smoke', Raheem Kassam, managing editor of Breitbart News, got the biggest cheer of the night when he lambasted the BMA's decision to lobby government to ban the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2000.
I'm still in London, recovering. (I shouldn't have mixed prosecco, red wine and beer.)
Here are some photos.
Reader Comments (6)
Good night - as usual. Thank you Simon
Thanks for a great night out Simon, as usual I could not have enjoyed myself more.
Great night Simon, thanks for the invite.
In the same glass ?!? No wonder you felt ill, silly bugger ;p
Thanks for a great night, Simon .I'm still hoping for an explanation as to how it was only raining on one side of the boat ..?
Sounds like I missed a great night. Sorry. I had intended to be there but somehow forgot to register for tix somewhere between planning my summer long adventure in Europe - which is now only 2 days away.
Enjoy the Freedom Dinner too. I'm gutted that I'll miss that this year but I would recommend others go as it's a great night out. Forest certainly knows how to throw a good party with a very serious message - Leave Us Alone, We're Grown Ups.
Devastated that I was unable to come due to a suspected heart attack the previous week. 11 days without a cigarette in Addenbrooke's Hospital nearly killed me.
As you might imagine, the first thing I did once off the premises was to light up and savour a very good Benson & Hedges Gold! It is my avowed intent that the last inward breath I take will be puffing a jolly good fag or a fine Havana cigar.