How was it for you? No Smoking Day, I mean.
On Wednesday Hazel Cheeseman, deputy CEO of ASH, tweeted that her first interview of the day was on Times Radio, but when I searched for it I found that it was broadcast between 5.00 and 6.00am.
To put this in perspective, as of December 2023 Times Radio had a weekly listening figure of 492,000, which suggests fewer than 100,000 a day. Goodness knows how many are listening before 6.00am.
Thereafter, going by tweets alone, I didn’t see much evidence of any more interviews, although local councils and the public health industry did their best to promote No Smoking Day on social media.
As far as I could tell, public engagement was minimal. Instead, the main event was a reception in Parliament hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health that, coincidentally, is run by ASH.
From the photos I’ve seen it took place in the Thames Pavilion (capacity 60), which is the smaller of the two pavilions on the terrace of the House of Commons. (The larger of the two, the Terrace Pavilion, holds 200.)
Those that did attend were there to support demands for a ‘smoke-free generation’ and badger the Government to publish the Tobacco and Vapes Bill without delay.
The principal speaker appeared to be junior health minister Andrea Leadsom who has become something of a cheerleader for the generational tobacco ban, and her comments were obviously designed to allay fears that the Bill might be significantly delayed, or abandoned.
Lord Bethell, for example, tweeted:
Strong from @andrealeadsom on the government’s determination to see through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill on National No Smoking Day. Really encouraging.
The bad news for Bethell is that, whoever makes the final decision on the timetable for the generational ban, it won’t be Leadsom who, despite running against Theresa May for the Tory leadership in 2016, is a fairly insignificant cog in the engine of government.
In fact, I was slightly surprised the Government didn’t take the opportunity to publish the Bill on No Smoking Day. After all, if the generational ban is as popular as they say it is, it would have been a useful distraction from everything else that happened last week.
Nevertheless, I’m glad ASH and co had their day in parliament. I’m just sorry that, outside the anti-smoking bubble, so few people noticed, or cared.
PS. On Friday afternoon the Express reported that the Bill may be published this week. To the best of my knowledge no-one else has been able to confirm this ‘exclusive’ so we’ll just have to wait and see.
The paper also suggested that upwards of 70 Conservative MPs are prepared to vote against it which may not be enough to stop the legislation, but is Downing Street really prepared to risk such a significant rebellion on what is essentially a vanity project?
See: Rishi Sunak braced for major rebellion over smoking ban in just days with 70 MPs to revolt (Express)
For the record, I’m not sure the Express is the most reliable source of news, but time will tell.