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« Thought for the day | Main | Health matters »
Saturday
Feb052022

Peer review - three cheers for Lord Moylan 

Excellent speech by Lord Moylan in the House of Lords yesterday.

The Conservative peer was responding to an orchestrated attempt by the usual suspects to hijack the Health and Care Bill to further their war on tobacco, an issue I addressed here last year:

The Health and Care Bill has nothing to do with tobacco control, which the Government is already planning to address through its new Tobacco Control Plan … but that hasn't stopped anti-smoking campaigners from using the Bill as a platform to pursue their own agenda.

These days, sadly, very few parliamentarians are prepared to stick their necks out and defend publicly an adult’s choice to smoke. Lord Moylan is one and yesterday he had the courage of his convictions to stand up and add some much needed common sense and realism to the debate.

Addressing the Chamber, he told fellow peers:

Unless smoking tobacco is made illegal, which would only bring with it all the organised-crime consequences associated with illegal drugs, the UK will not be smoke-free by 2030 or any other foreseeable date. There is likely to be an irreducible demand for smoking among both a small core of regular smokers and a wider population of people who enjoy the occasional cigarette. A sensible policy would recognise this and seek to accommodate it.

Instead, he added:

… we have the constant efforts of well-funded zealots to bully and humiliate smokers and place burdens in the path of businesses engaged in the manufacture and distribution of this lawful leisure product.

It was good too to read the reaction of another peer, Baroness Fox (aka Claire Fox, director of the Academy of Ideas and a long-term friend of Forest), who tweeted:

Hear bloody hear @danielmgmoylan. And I say that not only as a smoker, but also someone who believes in a free society which includes freedom to make unhealthy choices within law. Great speech to counter public health zealotry, which always goes too far, not only on cigarettes.

You can watch Lord Moylan's short speech above or you can read the full transcript here (scroll down).

Yesterday's debate was of course a mere skirmish ahead of the much bigger battle that lies ahead, prior to and even after the publication of the Government's long-awaited Tobacco Control Plan.

On Friday health secretary Sajid Javid launched two 'independent reviews' to tackle 'health disparities'.

One will look into ethnic inequalities for medical devices, the other will consider tobacco control:

Javed Khan OBE, former CEO of children’s charity Barnardo’s, will lead an independent review of the government’s bold ambition to make England smoke free by 2030. Whilst the government has made good long-term progress in reducing smoking rates to their lowest ever level, there are an estimated 6 million smokers in England and smoking is still one of the largest drivers of health disparities.

According to Government minister Earl Howe, speaking in Friday's House of Lords' debate, the report "will identify to the Government the most impactful interventions to reduce the uptake of smoking and support people to stop smoking".

If that was designed to appease the cabal of anti-smoking peers it evidently worked because at the request of Howe all the relevant amendments were either withdrawn or not put.

It reminded me of the 'independent review' into standardised packaging of tobacco products announced by David Cameron in November 2013 following strong campaigns for and against plain packaging. Conducted by Sir Cyril Chantler, the report was published in April 2014.

Naturally, even though there was (and still is) no credible evidence that plain packaging reduces smoking rates, the report supported the policy. This in turn effectively took the decision out of the hands of ministers who were able to hide behind Sir Cyril's predictable if contentious advocacy.

I don't want to pre-judge Javed Khan's review but are we seeing history repeat itself? It wouldn't be the first time.

If there's one sliver of hope to take away from this it's that the Government knows the Tobacco Control Plan is a hot potato and opposition to excessive regulation designed to meet an unrealistic target will be loud and persistent.

Hence the 'independent review' announced yesterday although it's interesting to note that Javed Khan is fully signed up to the Government's 'smoke free' target:

"I am very pleased to be leading this review into such an important area of public health. My independent findings will help highlight key interventions [my emphasis] which can help the government achieve its ambitions to be smoke free by 2030 and tackle health disparities."

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, the 'independent review into the government’s tobacco policies will report back in April 2022'.

I wonder if Javed Khan will consult the consumer, including smokers who enjoy their habit and feel they are being bullied to quit.

Either way Forest will make our position known, directly or indirectly.

Watch this space.

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