Congratulations to Claire Fox, or Baroness Fox of Buckley as she will now be known.
A long-standing friend of Forest, Claire took her seat in the House of Lords earlier today.
The irony is that she has made no secret of the fact that she supports the abolition of the Upper House - hence some of the criticism she has received for accepting a peerage - but if that’s your goal where better to achieve it than from within?
I’ve known Claire for 20 years - we first met at a Forest-sponsored soirée at Auberon Waugh’s Academy Club in Soho - and she has subsequently spoken at multiple Forest events in London (including our 40th anniversary dinner last year), Brighton, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Manchester, Brussels and Dublin.
Most recently she took part in a Forest webinar in which we discussed ‘The nanny state of the nation’ with a range of speakers including Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (aka former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett).
The good news is that we now have in Parliament someone with a thoughtful, independent and genuinely liberal attitude to life, something that can’t be said of most parliamentarians.
Best of all, she is still the down-to-earth, easily approachable person I met all those years ago. Here she is being questioned for the 'What's Your Vice?' column in Forest's Free Choice magazine (Spring 2000 issue):
Hello, what's your vice?
Smoking. 20-40 a day.
How old were you when you started?
Once or twice behind the bike shed from a very early age, but properly at 18. I went to university and ended up in a hall full of female teacher training students who were all obsessed with diets. They were like today's anti-smoking thought police. As a result I put on a stone and got so stressed out that when someone offered me a cigarette I took it, lost my appetite and lost weight.
Does your family approve?
They're concerned about my health so there's a fair amount of nagging, but they're not moralists. However, my 10-year-old niece, who's been educated in these politically correct times, is always hectoring and lecturing me. Frankly, she's a pain in the neck on this issue.
What do you smoke and why?
My father died of lung cancer and his dying wish was that I change from hard core nicotine to Silk Cut Ultra Low. He knew I enjoyed smoking so much I wouldn't give up so they were the next best thing.
When and where do you smoke?
I really like smoking when I'm writing. Like many journalists I need a regular supply of coffee and cigarettes. My colleague Helene Guldberg doesn't smoke until after six o'clock but all too frequently I am forced to go out into the dark, wet alleyway behind our office.
Have you ever tried to give up?
Yes, but I'm useless at it so I've given up giving up. I've tried patches but it doesn't make any difference.
Are you concerned about the health risks?
I'm not immune to it. I watched my father die and smoking has definitely damaged my lungs. I get chest infections all the time. The point is, I am aware of the health risks but if I smoke it's up to me. I'll make the decision, no-one else.
Does LM magazine [formerly Living Marxism, which Claire was editing at the time] have a position on smoking?
LM is a magazine for grown ups. Our editor, Mick Hume, is a reformed smoker but in general we're vigorously committed to opposing the Government's anti-smoking policies. It's ironic that, out of necessity, our office is no-smoking but there's no excuse for people to be huddled outside bigger offices, come rain or hail, when they could easily be accommodated inside. The issue here is individual liberty and freedom. The idea of governments being able to dictate personal habits is atrocious. This [Labour] Government is in danger of creating a climate of fear around smoking which leads to a cavalier disregard for facts and evidence. Once on this road you're not supposed to ask questions.
... and the anti-smoking health police?
I don't object to people campaigning. I believe in a vigorous exchange of views on all issues, but the Government has adopted its views as though they were all true, which is frightening.
Do you have any other vices to declare?
Coffee, and getting other people to make it for me. I am extremely untidy and have the untidiest office in the world. And I am Welsh. That's my secret vice.