Here's my interview on BBC Breakfast yesterday.
It was in response to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health (run by ASH) calling for another substantial hike in tobacco tax (inflation plus five per cent).
See Tobacco tax increase urged by parliamentary group (BBC News).
Short interviews like this involve spur of the moment judgement calls so there were other points I could have made but didn't, but here are some quotes, including one for my vaping buddies:
"This would be economic madness. We know the impact of raising tax on tobacco and it drives people to the black market."
"The last Chancellor who introduced an inflation plus five per cent increase on tobacco was Gordon Brown and he had to jump off the so-called tobacco escalator because it wasn't working."
"Many people enjoy smoking and you mustn't use taxation as a form of social engineering to try and coerce people to give up."
"The most successful smoking cessation aid of recent years has been the electronic cigarette. That's driven by the free market. It's got nothing to do with government."
A soundbite from the interview was used later in this BBC News report: