Javed Khan: yes we can

Busy day yesterday and another busy day today.

It was the result of the delayed announcement of the recommendations in Javed Khan’s ‘independent’ review into tobacco control.

I’ve not got time to post about it at length because I’m working on a related piece but yesterday I discussed the main proposals on the BBC Five Live phone-in, TalkTV, Sky News, ITV Lunchtime News, GB News, BBC News Channel, BBC Hereford & Worcester, BBC 3 Counties Radio, BBC NI and BBC Radio Scotland.

They include raising the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year until no-one can buy tobacco legally.

That got the most publicity but further reading of Khan’s ‘independent’ report revealed a whole host of ”crackpot ideas” including:

• Changing the colour of cigarettes to green or brown
• Marking each one with the specific number of 'minutes of life lost'
• Banning films that show smokers before the 9pm watershed
• Giving all new films with smoking scenes an 18 rating
• Banning people who live in social housing from smoking in their own home
• Banning smoking in beer gardens and other public places such as beaches
• Increasing the price of a pack by 30 per cent overnight

Is he serious? I guess he is.

I’ll return to this over the weekend because there’s a lot to write about. In the meantime I’ll leave you with a short piece (by me) that appears in the Express today.

This is the original copy. The published version has been edited slightly and is shorter:

Freedom of choice and personal responsibility are being sacrificed on the altar of public health. Increasing the age of sale of tobacco from 18 by one year every year 'until no one can buy a tobacco product in this country' is the nanny state at its worst.

Creeping prohibition won’t stop people smoking. It will simply drive the sale of tobacco underground and consumers will buy cigarettes on the black market where no-one pays tax and products are completely unregulated.

Worse, it will infantilise young adults, taking away their right to make decisions for themselves.

Other proposals include increased investment in 'smokefree 2030 policies', paid for by imposing an additional tax on tobacco companies. But the so-called tobacco levy won't hurt the companies because it will be passed on to the consumer, disproportionately affecting those from poorer backgrounds.

The one idea I do support is encouraging smokers to switch to vaping. That’s entirely sensible as long as it’s voluntary and based on educating consumers about the relative risks.

Ultimately this debate is about freedom of choice and personal responsibility and ministers must think very carefully before they adopt prohibition and coercion as tools to achieve their smoke-free goal.

PS. A 'fan' writes:

Forest's resistance to the proposal to raise the age for tobacco consumption to 21 is noted. You must be very proud of your chosen vocation; akin to running a Putin fan club or a campaign to protect a fly tipper's rights?

Charming.

Btw, the recommendation is not to raise the age of consumption but to raise the age of sale, which is somewhat different.