Messing about on the river

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Smoke On The Water last night.

Over 220 people registered for the event - our first boat party since 2017 - but the number who actually attended was nearer 180, just short of capacity (200), so that worked out quite well.

I think the evening was a success. Everyone I spoke to seemed to enjoy it.

From the moment guests embarked at Westminster Pier at 7.15 there was a hubbub of excited chatter that was great to hear, but the downside was it drowned out our speakers who struggled to be heard above the noise.

I could, I suppose, have asked that people stopped talking for ten or 15 minutes, but the party was in full swing and it seemed a bit authoritarian to insist that they listen in respectful silence.

It would have been a losing battle anyway, but it reminded me that this was one of the reasons we replaced the boat party with events such as lunches and dinners where guests are sitting down.

For what it’s worth, the four people we invited to say a few words are all in their twenties, which was deliberate because we wanted to make the point that it’s the younger generation that will be hit hardest by the government’s anti-smoking policies (that won’t end with smoking, by the way).

Reem Ibrahim needed little introduction. A familiar face on GB News and TalkTV, the IEA’s acting director of communications is a brilliant and highly articulate communicator and we’re fortunate she’s on our side!

The other speakers were Sam Bidwell, director of the Next Generation Centre at the Adam Smith Institute; Josh Cheshire, national coordinator for Students for Liberty in the UK; and Jonathan Heywood, a leading young Labour activist.

I met Jonathan at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool after he contacted me to say he was building a ‘network of members and officers of the party’s youth and students networks who are opposed to criminalising social smoking’.

We’ll be watching his progress with interest and I hope he succeeds.

Last night however our principal target audience were parliamentary staffers of all parties, and I’m pleased to they were well represented.

Over 60 had registered, representing each of the four main parties - Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, and Reform.

Several MPs had registered as well but the most prominent was a latecomer, Reform’s Lee Anderson.

Other guests included broadcasters, journalists, industry lobbyists, think tank staffers, and friends of Forest.

Apologies to everyone I didn’t have a chance to speak to. The evening flew by and before I knew it we were back at Westminster Pier.

The weather played its part in the success of the evening because, as well as being dry, it was remarkably balmy for an evening in October.

It meant people could stand on both the outside walkways and the open deck at the rear of the boat and enjoy the view as we cruised up river from Westminster to Battersea and back.

(Those of us who boarded the boat at Butler’s Wharf near Tower Bridge to prepare for the event had the benefit of an additional 30-minute cruise to Westminster Pier where guests embarked.)

Would we do it again next year? I don’t know. As a social event it was a success. But in terms of getting our message across? I’m not so sure.

PS. The event also featured a four-piece jazz quartet including keyboard, trumpet, and double bass. Unfortunately, they were drowned out too!

Below: the view from the stern of The Elizabethan as we cruised from Butler’s Wharf to Westminster Pier