Talking about tax and tobacco
Friday, March 13, 2020 at 9:00 
I was on BBC Look North last night.
In the wake of the Budget there was a report from Hull where 26 per cent of men still smoke.
Presenter Peter Levy adopted his usual slightly antagonistic position - which can come across as anti-smoking - but I don’t mind that at all.
In a one-to-one interview I expect the presenter to play devil’s advocate.
One thing I thought was a bit below the belt, given that Look North invited me to appear, was his insistence on raising the issue of who funds Forest.
Again, I don’t mind talking about it - we’ve never been shy of the fact that we get donations from Big Tobacco - but it denied me the time to make some other points I felt would have been more relevant to the report.
For example, Levy sought to downplay the tax increase, pointing out that it was only another 27p on the price of a pack of cigarettes.
The reality is that, in 2011, a pack of 20 cost £7. Following the 2020 Budget the price is now £12.73. In addition the price of the smallest pouch of hand-rolling tobacco has gone up by 67p.
The argument put forward by Levy and others is, if it’s too expensive to smoke then quit smoking!
I get that everyone has to live within their means but why should poorer smokers be forced to quit an everyday habit they enjoy because the government raises the level of tax to 90 per cent of the RRP?
Punitive taxation, the ban on ten packs and smaller pouches of rolling tobacco are all designed to target the less well off, and that’s discrimination.
Anyway, you can watch it here. The IEA’s Chris Snowdon makes an appearance too.
The programme is on BBC iPlayer until 7.00pm this evening.
Reader Comments (1)
Peter Levy is smokerphobic. There is no playing devil's advocate. He is a snob who hates smoking and turns his nose up in disgust at smokers. I would not be surprised if he was deliberately misleading.