Making a difference

Inspired perhaps by Greta Thunberg or Extinction Rebellion, BBC Radio 4’s consumer programme You and Yours today hosted a phone-in that asked:

‘When have you made a difference through protest?’

I was unaware of it until shortly after ten when I got a call from a producer who asked if I would go on the programme. Naturally I said yes, even though I was aware that it could be a poisoned chalice.

We had a chat, she took notes and then requested that I make myself available for a full hour (from twelve to one o’clock) although I would only be on the programme for a few minutes.

At midday, having made a few notes myself, I sat down and waited for the phone to ring. Dear reader, that call never came.

After the programme finished I rang the You and Yours office at Broadcasting House in London. It took a few attempts but eventually I got through.

“We’re sorry,” they said, “but we had so many callers we didn’t need you.”

In other words I was merely a back-up in case the phone lines were less than red hot. I’ll remember that the next time they come a-calling.

In the meantime here are some of the things that crossed my mind while I was waiting - in vain - to take part.

When have you made a difference through protest?

First of all, it’s important that the consumer has a voice in the political process and Forest represents adults who enjoy smoking and don’t want to quit.

In my view we are continually making a difference just by being here and doing what we do - lobbying politicians, speaking out in the media, representing consumers who can’t speak for themselves etc.

Without Forest promoting an anti-nanny state message and speaking out on behalf of those who believe in freedom of choice and personal responsibility I believe the anti-smoking juggernaut might have progressed even further and quicker than it already has.

Hopefully, even in a losing battle, we make politicians think twice about the implications of what they are doing and even if they vote for one smoking-related regulation (the indoor smoking ban, for example) they may oppose another, such as outdoor smoking bans, mindful of our previous arguments.

If I was pressed to name specific examples of Forest’s work that have ‘made a difference’ - albeit temporarily - I would cite our three-year campaign against the smoking ban (‘Fight The Ban: Fight For Choice’) which enjoyed some success before a changing of the guard at the Department of Health following the 2005 General Election altered the political landscape.

Our campaign against plain packaging (Hands Off Our Packs) was without question a success before politics once again intervened.

Although we eventually lost that fight - despite raising over a quarter of a million signatures on a petition opposing plain packs - our ‘protest’ delayed the introduction of standardised packaging by at least two years so no-one can say we didn’t make some difference.

Launched in 2009 our Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign also had an impact. It didn’t persuade government to amend the smoking ban but it did achieve another aim - removing the very real threat of the ban being extended to pub doorways and beer gardens.

Only last year we made another difference when we helped see off a threat to smoking being banned in new licensed pavement areas outside pubs, restaurants and bars. Our ‘influence’ on government was even raised by an anti-smoking peer in the House of Lords!

Given the power and influence of the anti-smoking industry I accept that the extent to which we make a difference may sometimes be minimal but the fact that Forest still exists, 42 years after we were founded, and continues to have a relatively loud voice - in relation to our size and budget - is not to be sniffed at given the hostile environment in which we operate.

Unlike ASH for example I can’t think of a single occasion when we have found ourselves pushing on an open door, politically speaking. Every campaign has been a struggle against the odds yet we’re still here, arguing our corner and making our position heard.

I may be clutching at straws but if I didn’t think we made some difference I’d quit now.

Which brings me back to You and Yours. In fairness, having now listened to the phone-in in full, I can see why a professional lobbyist like me would have been out of place.

Every caller, as far as I can tell, was a volunteer activist and the campaigns they were describing were often local ones.

In hindsight therefore I understand why the producers chose to leave me out but it would have been nice had they told me rather than leaving me (in the words of Debbie Harry) hanging on the telephone.

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

If Forest didn't exist, smoking would be illegal and people like me would be in prison for refusing to quit. Keep up the good work because I have no doubt that making tobacco illegal and criminalising law abiding decent people who smoke is the ultimate end game of those smokerphobic bullies.