Further to my previous post, I was on my own for all bar one of the interviews this morning.
The exception was BBC Radio Scotland which put me head to head with Linda Bauld of Stirling University.
The most surprising thing about Linda's contribution was not her insistence – against the evidence – that plain packaging is working (ie reducing smoking rates) in Australia, or her endorsement of the Chantler Review, it was her declaration that tobacco "is not a consumer product".
I checked with the Office for National Statistics and the latest figures for the Consumer Prices Index quite clearly includes alcohol and, wait for it, tobacco.
Other items include food and non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and footwear, furniture and household goods, and so on.
Sorry, Linda, I'm with the government on this one.
Then again, if tobacco and indeed alcohol aren't consumer products, what on earth are they?
It also begs the question that if Linda doesn't classify cigarettes as a consumer product, what about e-cigarettes (which she is very keen on promoting as a smoking cessation aid)?
They're both nicotine delivery systems. Why should one be a consumer product and not the other?
Sounds to me like the next step in the denormalisation of smoking. Deny tobacco is a consumer product and remove it from convenience stores.
Anyway, you can listen to the full Radio Scotland interview here.
Update: Linda has responded in the Comments (below). I'll have to listen to the clip again to see if I've misrepresented her but I haven't got time now because I'm going out for dinner. (I need a drink!)
In the meantime listen to the interview and judge for yourselves.