Got back from holiday late on Monday night.
More on that later (I know you love my holiday-related posts!), but I’m mentioning it now because you may be wondering why I haven’t posted anything since it was reported that the government is planning to extend the smoking ban to outdoor areas including beer gardens.
The story, revealed exclusively by The Sun at 10.00pm last Wednesday (August 28), was quickly seized upon by other newspapers, with broadcasters following suit.
Unfortunately, when I read the news (within an hour of it appearing online), I was on a cruise ship at sea and an hour ahead of the UK, so I was limited in how I could respond.
I nevertheless sent out a press release with Forest’s response but given the lateness of the hour it didn’t get much traction, although MailOnline did include a quote in their report the following morning.
Over the next two days - some of which was also spent at sea - I had to turn down several interview requests but thankfully there was back up and no shortage of voices opposed to the ban.
At the request of the Express, however, I did contribute 150 words for a head-to-head style ‘debate’ with Deborah Arnott, CEO of ASH. (Print edition only.)
I’ve also written, again at their request, an article for Chamber UK that may (or may not) appear in the next few days.
Anyway, I shall return to this subject shortly. There is a lot to (calmly!) consider and act upon.