Freedom, education and the state

Sorry, very little time for blogging this week.

Tonight, The Free Society and the Adam Smith Institute present:

FREEDOM, EDUCATION AND THE STATE
Is mediocrity for all preferable to excellence for some?

Venue: Institute of Economic Affairs,
2 Lord North Street, Westminster, SW1

Not a bad line-up, if I say so myself.

Chairman:
Claire Fox (Institute of Ideas)

Speakers:
Tom Clougherty (Adam Smith Institute)
The Rt Hon David Davis MP (former shadow home secretary)
Matt Grist (senior researcher at Demos)
Professor Terence Kealey (vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham)
Toby Young (associate editor of The Spectator and founder of the West London Free School)

We're expecting a full house – and more – so do join us. RSVP events@thefreesociety.org or telephone Nicky Shepherd 01223 370091.

Update on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 8:28 by Simon Clark

Writing for The Free Society today, Dr Eamonn Butler, director and co-founder of the Adam Smith Institute, reflects on the extraordinary riches that people enjoy, thanks to the free market. See: Fit for a king.

Register now if you want to change the smoking ban

Save Our Pubs & Clubs reception
Terrace Pavilion, House of Commons
Wednesday 29th June 2011, 4.00-6.00pm

You are invited to join us at the Save Our Pubs & Clubs reception to be hosted by the Rt Hon Greg Knight MP, Roger Godsiff MP, and John Hemming MP on Wednesday 29th June.

The reception marks the fourth anniversary of the introduction of the smoking ban in England and comes a few months after the fifth anniversary of the ban in Scotland.

MPs from the three main political parties are uniting to support our campaign to amend the smoking ban to allow a separate smoking room with proper ventilation in private premises, including pubs and clubs.

It is vitally important that this event is well supported. If possible, you should also contact your MP in advance and arrange to meet them at the reception.

RSVP as follows. Email your name and full postal address – and that of any guests you wish to bring – to:

info@amendthesmokingban.com

After you have registered, you will be sent an admission ticket, which you will need to bring with you to the reception. Tickets will be posted this week.

Please make every effort to attend this event and demonstrate your support for the campaign to change the smoking ban.

Better late than never, Sunday Mirror wants to save the British pub

The Sunday Mirror has launched a campaign to Save Our Pubs.

Needless to say there's a political angle – British Pubs facing closure under the Tories reveal their battle to survive, screams a headline in today's paper:

They have been at the heart of our communities for centuries - but now Britain's pubs are under threat. Six close down every day and those still open face a constant struggle to survive.

The local is in crisis. So today the Sunday Mirror calls on PM David Cameron to honour his election promise that his Government would be "pub-friendly and take the urgent action needed to protect a treasured national institution".

The paper highlights four areas for the problems facing the British pub – cheap supermarket alcohol, tax and duty, pub chains and, yes, the smoking ban:

The smoking ban dealt a devastating blow to thousands of traditional pubs. Takings nosedived by as much as 40 per cent at some town centre and inner city locals as smokers decided to drink at home. Supporters of the ban - introduced in Scotland in 2006 and the rest of the UK in 2007 - say it has made pubs more family friendly and people healthier. But street corner pubs with no beer garden have suffered badly.

Funnily enough, I distinctly remember the Daily Mirror (if not its sister paper) supporting the smoking ban when it was introduced by the previous (Labour) government.

Oh, well, at least our message about the impact of the smoking ban is finally getting through.

Welcome aboard.

Review of the week

From the Forest website:

• ASH awarded WHO medal on 40th "birthday"
• Imperial loses appeal against vending machine ban
• Imperial warns of "nanny state"

From The Free Society:

• A law against laws?
• Time for parliamentary reform

Above: Parliamentary event to mark the 40th anniversary of ASH. Doesn't look the most exciting occasion, does it?

From left: Sir Richard Thompson (president, Royal College of Physicians), Stephen Williams MP (chair of All Party Parliamentary on Smoking and Health), Kevin Barron MP, Anne Milton (minister for public health) holding the WHO World No Smoking Day Award, Deborah Arnott (CEO of ASH), Professor John Moxham (chair of ASH).

DoH stats "little more than guesses" but vending machine ban goes ahead

Deborah Arnott and I are quoted in today's Sun.

We were asked to respond to a decision by Appeal Court judges to uphold the ban on tobacco vending machines, despite a challenge by Sinclair Collis, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco.

ASH's chief executive told the paper:

"For years vending machines have been an easy source of cigarettes for children. The British Heart Foundation filmed kids of 14 undercover in pubs and on every occasion they were able to buy cigs unchallenged.

"Adults rarely use machines because they are expensive. Less than one per cent of sales are from machines, so the economic impact will be tiny. The health benefit is considerable."

My response:

"The vending machine ban is grossly disproportionate and not based on sound evidence. The overwhelming majority of machines are inaccessible to under-18s.

"Government policy seems to be about putting cigs out of sight in the hope smoking rates will fall. In fact, the more you put cigs under the counter and ban vending machines, the more you create an allure which people find desirable."

Rather more interesting are the words of the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger. According to the Sun he admitted the Department of Health's arguments were "not very convincing" but said tobacco's health risks meant courts should not interfere with Government restrictions.

The Daily Mail adds this telling information:

The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, said that given the health risks posed by tobacco, "virtually any measure which a government takes to restrict the availability of tobacco products, especially to young people, is almost self-evidently one with which no court should interfere".

Although statistics used by the DoH to justify the ban were "little more than guesses", the judge said they did "not appear fanciful" and the ban was "lawful" and "proportionate".

One person evidently disagreed. The Appeal Court judges voted by only 2-1 to uphold the ban.

I think I'm going to be sick

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Smoking and Health yesterday celebrated the 40th anniversary of ASH with a function at the House of Commons.

Here are some of the 'highlights':

Guests welcomed by Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams, chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health.

Williams, Labour MP Kevin Barron (former chairman of the Health Select Committee), and public health minister Anne Milton presented with awards by Cancer Research.

Milton said it was a pleasure to celebrate ASH’s "birthday party". She then presented Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, with the World No Tobacco Day Award from the World Health Organisation.

Accepting the award, Debs thanked those who funded ASH.

Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, which founded ASH in 1971, wished a "very happy birthday to our baby, now our grown up child" and called for a campaign to "get rid of cigarettes eventually".

Prof John Moxam, chairman of ASH, compared it to his own birthday, and spoke of an "ASH family across the world".

Sir Richard, he said, was was "the father of ASH" and the support of the Royal College of Physicians has been "absolutely wonderful".

He also paid tribute to Kevin Barron who he described as a "warrior for the cause", adding, "ASH just thinks you’re magic".

Ugh!!

Ms Milton, he said, was "tremendous", and had "won over the hearts of everyone involved".

I think I'm going to be sick ....

Great British Pub Awards – the judging begins

Yesterday was the first round of judging for the Great British Pub Awards 2011.

I couldn't be there because I had a previous engagement – the Association of Independent Tobacco Specialists' annual lunch at Lords Cricket Ground (guest speaker Tom O'Connor following in the formidable footsteps of Bobby Davros, George Galloway and Boris Johnson).

Anyway, the aim of the first judging round is to select a list of potential winners, national and regional, based on the written entry forms.

The next stage of the judging process involves visits to our preferred candidates, 12-15 pubs scattered around the country. The five finalists will be announced in August and the winner will be revealed at the Great British Pub Awards dinner in London in September.

I've seen some of the written entries and I've been struck by the effort that has been made to accommodate smokers so they don't feel "ostracised" (as one landlord out it) from the rest of the pub.

Branded ceramic ashtrays, mosaic tables, wicker chairs and smoking memorabilia are just some of the attractions, but the most important (apart from blankets and heaters!) is accessibility.

I was struck too by a very British sense of humour. One pub has a series of hand-painted signs that read: 'Please feel free to use ashtrays once the floor is full', 'Please don't put cigarette ends on the floor as they might burn the hands and feet of customers leaving'.

Another features a notice that reads:

This smoking cabin was built by three brave cowboys in the year of our Lord 2010. Despite it being the coldest December ever these brave souls worked on regardless. They had no design and no plans. They just made it up as they went along and with total disregard for health and safety. They were too cold to feel any pain and lots of blood dripped on to the white snow. So please honour their sacrifice and use the ashtrays. I am sure that you will remember them every time that you light up and also when cold water from the terrible roof runs down your neck.

I'm not sure if this is a recommendation for Best Smoking Area but it made me laugh.

Wizards of Oz - Big Tobacco fights back

Imperial warns of ‘nanny state’:

Imperial Tobacco has today launched a high-profile national advertising campaign in Australia to warn of the dangers of plain packaging. The Australian government is pushing ahead with legislation to force tobacco products to be sold in generic packaging by July 2012.

Imperial’s ad campaign was unveiled at a press conference in Canberra hosted by Wayne Merrett, General Manager Australasia. The TV, radio and newspaper ads warn of ‘Nanny State’ legislation that erodes adult choice and sets a dangerous precedent for other products, such as alcohol and fast food.

A website for consumers NoNannyState has also been launched.

Full press release on the Forest website: Imperial warns of "nanny state".

The move follows an initiative by Philip Morris, also in Australia. In April PMI launched a website, I Deserve To Be Heard, which was described in The Age:

Tobacco giant Philip Morris has launched a website calling on smokers to unite and flex their political muscle over tough federal government regulations.

The online campaign comes as the tobacco industry ramps up opposition to a government plan for cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from next year.

Philip Morris’s new website ... claims smokers are under constant attack from a ”nanny state” determined to raise taxes and ban smoking in public spaces, such as beaches and city malls.

See also: Australia – the world’s number one nanny state (Chris Snowdon, The Free Society)