Special pleading – ASH battles to save Smokefree South West
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 15:03 As expected tobacco control campaigners are doing everything they can to save Smokefree South West from the knackers' yard.
Last month it was reported that eleven local councils had chosen not to renew their contract with this tax-guzzling lobby group.
Tobacco control was never going to abandon their comrades without a fight. There's too much to lose. After all, once councils get a taste for pruning budgets (and pointless organisations like Smokefree South West), who knows where it will end?
Councillors in the North West might start to question the purpose of Tobacco Free Futures. In the North East they might ask questions about Fresh (formerly Smokefree North West).
If I was a councillor in those regions I'd certainly want to know what these groups do that isn't already covered by ASH, Cancer Research, the British Heart Foundation, the British Lung Foundation (organisers of No Smoking Day), Public Health England (organisers of Stoptober) and local smoking cessation services?
What is their USP? I'm damned if I know.
Anyway, in a document (Future funding of Smokefree South West) published this morning, the APPG on Smoking and Health (which is run by ASH) has come out fighting.
Or pleading.
Addressed to Sarah Wollaston, chair of the Health Select Committee, there's a tragic air of desperation as they urge Wollaston to help save this vainglorious body that claims to have saved thousands of lives since it was founded in 2008.
Basically this document represents one taxpayer funded group (ASH) lobbying to save another taxpayer funded group (Smokefree South West).
Naturally, in terms of funding, all roads lead in one direction – to the taxpayer. But if Smokefree South West is so necessary why can't it be supported the Royal College of Physicians or Cancer Research or the British Lung Foundation or even Big Pharma?
ASH and the APPG are almost certainly pushing on an open door with Wollaston. The Tory MP for Totnes in Devon is fiercely anti-smoking so I can't imagine it will be a hard sell to get her onside.
Nevertheless it will be interesting to see how she responds to special pleading on behalf of an organisation that exemplifies the phrase "government lobbying government".
You may recall for example that in 2012 SFSW launched a campaign, Plain Packs Protect, that supported standardised packaging. The campaign was inherently political and had one simple aim – to persuade the Coalition Government to introduce this highly contentious policy.
A few months later, following an FOI request, we discovered that:
Smokefree South West, a publicly-funded tobacco control group based in Bristol, has a current budget of £468,462 to promote the Plain Packs Protect campaign launched in January.
Hands Off Our Packs, the campaign that opposes plain packaging, has learnt that the budget includes: £100,398 for billboard advertisements; £127,685 for digital advertising; almost £100,000 for “community events”; and £141,000 for other social marketing initiatives.
See Public money used to lobby government on plain packaging (Hands Off Our Packs).
Unknown to us then, the additional value of Smokefree South West's contract with eleven local councils was over £1 million annually. And they want this racket to continue!
Here's our response to the news of their impending demise – Forest welcomes closure of anti-smoking group – to which I would merely add "Goodbye and good riddance."
To read 'Future Funding of Smokefree South West' in full click here. It's not long and it's worth a couple of minutes of your time.
Reader Comments (9)
'The latest data from the Smoking Toolkit Study, a monthly household survey of representative samples of about 1800 adults per wave (16+ years old) in England, suggests that smoking prevalence has stopped declining and may have started to rise again (headline figures are 18.5% in 2014 to 18.7% in 2015) (6). This is the first time since the survey started in 2007 that there has been an increase in the headline figure.'
Despite the draconian sanctions imposed in recent years at TC behest - an admission of failure no less. Indeed, the hitherto steady decline in smoking rates faltered following the smoking ban.
Fiercely anti smoking means smokerphobic. These people must be made to see what they really are. Call a spade a spade.
Not to worry Simon as Sarah Wollaston will shortly be receiving another missive asking why more councils are not forced to save great & useless expenditure of these "Smoke Free" services - for the simple reason that we still have in excess of 20% of the population are still happily smoking. I will pass on any reply quite happily ;)
The NHS is broken and money is needed for direct patient care it shouldn't be wasted on smoker hate groups. Shut them all down.
Hopefully their plea for additional funding is ignored and their fellow travelers de-funded as well.
We've all witnessed how recent successive governments believe people need protecting and are too thick to make their own choices.
Isn't it such a shame that their draconian interventions have cost millions to the taxpayer, many deaths, loneliness and an increase in anti establishment due to government lobbying government.
The fact that they were found out years ago doesn't matter anymore. The fact that the mainstream population is now understanding that government lobbying government costs taxpayers money and just creates jobs for people to incite misery, loneliness and death is at long last a breath of fresh thinking.
I may write a small note to Sarah Woollaston myself in support of the ASH plea, under the proviso that, if Smoke Free South West are responsible for the claimed number of lives saved, then ASH cannot be responsible for the same lives and the money for SFSW should be deducted from any monies currently given to ASH.
I suppose it would be rude not to copy Deborah Arnott in on it to see if she can object to my logic.
All smoker hate groups such as ASH and Smokefree South West should be shut down. If they won't go willingly a stake through the heart should be administered.
Without hesitation, on the day of the announcement of the closure of SFSW, I wrote a nice detailed letter to Sarah Woollaston explaining exaectly why SFSW would not be missed, including the fact that they could prove that they had actually saved one single life!
I also pointed out, quite firmly but nicely, that the saving to the public purse would be considerable and should be applauded.
Just to top that up I explained that all the smoking ban had done was to cause a massive influx of smuggled tobacco products which, even as a non-smoker, I applauded as it showed our government that they were simply attacking people's freedom of choice & expression and that the people would NOT be bullied into submission!
I reported this, on this website, and promised to air any response from this so called caring MP - to date there has been no response!
I doubt there will be :)