Farewell to freedom loving Brian Binley
Monday, December 28, 2020 at 13:24 I was very sorry to hear that Brian Binley, the former Conservative MP for Northampton South, has died.
As an MP from 2005 to 2015, Brian was one of a small but select group of politicians that put individual freedom and the threat of the nanny state near the top of the political agenda.
One example of this was his energetic support for our campaign to persuade the government to amend the smoking ban and allow designated smoking rooms in pubs and clubs.
In July 2010, shortly after the General Election that removed Labour from office, Brian tabled an Early Day Motion that urged the new Coalition government to review the impact of the ban.
Any review should consider a balanced and proportionate amendment to the legislation, which allows for segregated smoking rooms or areas within pubs, bars and clubs provided that effective smoke extraction systems of an authorised standard are installed, enabling smokers to be accommodated in comfort indoors without impacting on non smokers and staff whilst reducing intrusive noise to many who live close to such establishments, thus helping to safeguard the future of many in the licensed trade.
Although EDMs are largely symbolic and rarely have much impact, it nevertheless highlighted Brian's opposition to regulations he described as "draconian".
A few months later, as co-sponsor of one of the awards, we invited him to the annual Great British Pub Awards where he presented the prize for 'Best Creative Outdoor Area', a category we subsequently renamed 'Best Smoking Area'.
Interviewed before the event, he explained why the ban should be amended (see above).
Although our campaign failed to get the review or the amendment we wanted, we kept in touch and in 2014 Brian attended Forest's 35th anniversary party at Boisdale of Belgravia where he told us:
"What a wonderful night we've had here at Boisdales and I'd like to thank Forest which has organised the evening; organised the evening for all freedom loving people who want to make decisions impacting on their own lives, don't want the nanny state, don't want to be ruled by health fascists, but want to able to make their own decisions within the law, and it's about time they had more support, especially from government."
The respect we had for Brian was mutual but what I most liked about him was his plain speaking and genuine commitment to a cause.
If he had something to say he would say it in his own words and go public on his own terms.
Others might have their soundbites written for them. Or they would brief journalists anonymously.
Brian Binley, in my experience, wasn't like that. He took ownership of his opinions and was a genuine – and independent – free spirit.
RIP.
See also: Brian Binley: Former Northampton South MP dies aged 78 (BBC News), Tributes paid to former Northampton MP Brian Binley who has died at 78 (ITV).
Below: Brian Binley at Forest's 35th anniversary party at Boisdale in November 2014. His comments begin at 3:40.
Reader Comments (2)
I notice he was described as a "non-smoking asthmatic".
When such fair-minded folk go it's even more of a loss.
He'll be sorely missed.
Of course asthmatic is a non smoker. Most of asthmatics become non asthmatics after they light up their first fag.