Notes from The Freedom Dinner 2015

Great to see so many new and familiar faces at The Freedom Dinner at Boisdale of Canary Wharf on Tuesday.

In total there were 156 guests across 15 tables. The Institute of Economic Affairs had a table; as did the Adam Smith Institute, Conservatives for Liberty and Women In Tobacco.

The TaxPayers Alliance was represented along with the Institute of Ideas, Manifesto Club and Liberal Vision.

There were journalists from The Times, Telegraph, Wall Street Journal and Daily Mail.

We had six MPs (I won't name them, although Ian Paisley Jr features in one of the photographs below!) and several parliamentary researchers.

The evening began on the covered terrace which has recently been re-named the Cuban Garden, hence the Havana Rum mojitos.

Smokers are always welcome at Boisdale and the space proved as popular as ever, before and after dinner. As an added bonus we hired a professional cellist, Ivan McCready.

Dinner was served in the main restaurant and then it was time for the after dinner entertainment – speeches and live music.

I said a few words before introducing Rob Lyons who spoke briefly about Action on Consumer Choice.

Next on stage were Juliette Tworsey and Jules Shapiro, our guests from New Orleans where smoking was banned in bars and casinos earlier this year.

Finally it was time for our principal speaker, Bafta award-winning film producer Stephen Evans, who veered off in various directions referencing Shakespeare, Churchill and George Best before finishing with the rallying cry, "Enough is enough!"

Anyway, here's the draft of my introductory 'speech' and introductions. What I actually said may have differed slightly but that's what happens when you drink several mojitos before taking the microphone:

The Freedom Dinner is not just a Forest event but one that highlights the extent of opposition to the almost daily attacks on lifestyle freedoms such as eating, drinking and smoking.

Thanks to the IEA, ASI, Conservatives for Liberty and Women In Tobacco for taking tables. Delighted too to welcome guests from the TaxPayers Alliance, Institute of Ideas and the Manifesto Club.

Thanks to cellist Ivan McCready who played on the terrace before dinner. Ivan has a classical music background but he’s also played with Blur, The Pretenders and Jessie J, among others.

I’d also like to thank a group that rarely gets any thanks … the tobacco companies, in particular JTI, BAT and Imperial.

Last year we marked Forest’s 35th anniversary with a party at Boisdale of Belgravia and it’s fair to say that without the support of the companies Forest would probably not exist or, if it did, it would consist of a handful of smokers ranting incoherently on the Internet.

I personally think it’s very important tobacco companies are seen to support their customers, especially when smokers are being given such a hard time and increasingly marginalised.

I also think consumers of other potentially unhealthy products – alcohol, sugar, convenience food – should get rather more support from those businesses too.

Health is important. But Forest believes freedom of choice and personal responsibility are important too and I don’t hear many corporations making that case often enough. Where are their media spokesmen?

And that brings me to our new project, Action on Consumer Choice. Our tag line is EAT. DRINK. SMOKE. VAPE. IT’S YOUR CHOICE. and I’d like to introduce you to Rob Lyons, our new campaigns manager, who is going to say a few words on the subject.

[Cue short speech by Rob Lyons]

Now, before I introduce our guest speaker tonight, we’re going to have a little change of pace because I want to introduce you to two special guests who have flown all the way from New Orleans to be with us tonight.

A few months ago New Orleans banned smoking and vaping in all enclosed public places. It was a shock to many of us because New Orleans was always seen as different, more bohemian and laid back than many American cities.

In his wonderful BBC2 series, Songs of the South, comedian Reginald D Hunter commented on what made New Orleans different from other American cities:

"Another thing about New Orleans. It is one of the remaining cities left - maybe the only one - that still has its own character and has room for characters. It hasn't been homogenised to death."

Hunter wasn’t taking about the smoking ban but I think it’s fair to say to say the ban is another step towards the homogenisation of another American city.

Thankfully you can’t homogenise every individual. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to welcome, from New Orleans, Juliette Tworsey and her partner Jules Shapiro.

[Cue short Q&A]

Now, to our guest speaker. He may not be a household name but you will undoubtedly have heard of many of the films he’s produced since giving up a lucrative job in the City to make films.

Working with Kenneth Branagh he enjoyed almost immediate success as the producer of Henry V, Peter's Friends and Much Ado About Nothing.

He won a Bafta for The Madness of King George and also produced Twelfth Night, The Wings of a Dove and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind among others.

More recently his CV includes First Night and Seve, a 2014 biopic about Seve Ballasteros. And he's currently working on a film about George Best.

He describes cigars and whisky as his "guilty pleasures" but says he feels a lot less guilty when he’s at Boisdale and in the company of "like-minded people" such as yourselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to welcome our principal guest speaker, Stephen Evans.

And that was it, apart from a couple more hours on the terrace as the light faded. (A few stray guests eventually found their way out of the building in the early hours of the morning.)

Thanks to everyone who came. Sorry if I didn't stop by and say hello. It was impossible to speak to everyone or visit every table, but I should have done better.

If you want to see the full gallery of pictures click here. See also Morning after the night before.

ASH's demand for tobacco levy goes up in smoke

For some time tobacco control campaigners have been calling for a tobacco levy to reduce smoking rates.

The policy was supported by Labour (naturally), prompting me to write:

If the party is elected back into government Labour has vowed to introduce a tobacco levy that will almost certainly be passed on to the consumer. Tobacco will become even more expensive and it doesn’t take a genius to predict the outcome – a flourishing black market driven by price.

See Message from our director (Forest).

Despite Labour's general election defeat anti-smoking campaigners were confident they could persuade the new Tory government to introduce the policy.

Last month, in response to a further demand by ASH at the launch of its latest report, Forest issued this press release:

Simon Clark, director of Forest, the smokers’ lobby group, said a tobacco levy would almost certainly be passed on to consumers and would hit those who can least afford a further increase in the price of tobacco.

He said, “A tobacco levy would probably lead to tobacco becoming even more expensive and would have the same result as raising the duty on tobacco.

“It will hit the elderly, the low paid and the unemployed hardest, and it will encourage criminals to flood the black market with cheap and sometimes counterfeit tobacco.

“That in turn will hit small convenience stores who will lose vital business.”

See also Tobacco levy, ASH and Forest's response (Taking Liberties).

Yesterday George Osborne rejected the idea of a levy because, according to Reuters, 'a consultation had shown the cost would simply be passed on to consumers.'

So fair play to George Osborne and the Treasury. Nice to see a little victory for common sense and consumer rights.

UK says will not introduce levy on tobacco manufacturers and importers (Reuters).

Morning after the night before

I'll post something about last night's Freedom Dinner when I get a moment.

In the meantime big thanks to Dan Donovan who travelled home to Lincolnshire and worked through the night to create this gallery of photos.

Here are three of my favourite images. Do you think there's a theme emerging?

Update: Rob Lyons (Action on Consumer Choice) writes:

I'm fragile like bone china, but it was a cracking night. Was blethering away with Sarah Jakes till late, then we found ourselves locked in the building.

Eventually found someone to let us out on to the street, walked round the corner and found Sam Bowman [Adam Smith Institute] and company wandering around, still inside the building. So we weren't the worst offenders!

I left Boisdale shortly after 12.30am so I'm guessing this was 1.00pm or later. Canary Wharf is a very difficult place to escape from, especially after a few drinks ...

From Revolt In Style to The Freedom Dinner

Looking forward to The Freedom Dinner tonight.

This is our fourth annual dinner at Boisdale of Canary Wharf.

The first was a stab in the dark, if I'm honest. It was a sequel, of sorts, to Revolt In Style, the hugely successful event Forest and Boisdale hosted at The Savoy in June 2007, five days before the smoking ban came in.

That dinner attracted almost 400 people paying £80 a ticket. Guest speakers were Andrew Neil, Claire Fox (Institute of Ideas) and Antony Worrall Thompson.

There were camera crews from twelve countries including Russia, France, Germany and Greece. Newsnight was there too.

Five years later we thought it would be good to revive the concept of a lifestyle freedom-themed dinner. However, without the incentive of attending an historic occasion, I wasn't sure how attractive it would be.

There were around 120 guests for the first one and since then the number has risen to 150 or so. We could squeeze more people in but it would be uncomfortable.

This year's dinner is supported by, among others, the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Adam Smith Institute and Conservatives for Liberty, who all have tables.

There will also be guests from the TaxPayers' Alliance, Institute of Ideas, the Manifesto Club and other groups.

Half a dozen MPs are expected to attend, together with a number of journalists and bloggers.

Guest speaker is film producer Stephen Evans whose credits include Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, The Madness of King George, Peter's Friends and many more.

Another special guest is New Orleans-based musician and campaigner Juliette Tworsey. When smoking was banned in NOLA bars and casinos earlier this year Juliette was on the frontline, arguing against prohibition.

Although she quit smoking some time ago and now vapes, I was hugely impressed that she spoke up for both camps. In the current climate that marked her out as someone a bit special and I'm delighted she's joining us tonight with her partner Jules.

Performing on the smoking terrace before dinner will be cellist Ivan McCready who has played with Blur, The Pretenders, John Cale, Jessie J – even Pete Doherty.

So, fingers crossed, it should be a good night.

Chesterfield Royal Hospital tweets

The Derbyshire Times has published my response to the suggestion that smoking be banned across the entire site at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

What's interesting is the reaction of the hospital's Twitter account.

On Saturday night, in response to a tweet that included a link to my previous post, @royalhospital tweeted:

So we should support a habit that causes cancer then? And allow patients to breathe in others' smoke?

Bearing in mind the hospital is currently consulting on the issue and has, allegedly, yet to make a decision, it seemed a little inappropriate.

Anyway it led to the following exchange:

@Forest_Smoking: Appalling response. Show some empathy for patients who smoke. Plus, no evidence of harm to others from smoking outside.

@royalhospital: personal responsibility 4where Usmoke - not where it affects others. Patients/visitors in distress supported #ProudtoCare

@Forest_Smoking: Smoking outside away from hospital entrances doesn't affect anyone. Do you have objective evidence that suggests otherwise?

Needless to say there was no response to this simple question. Later, however, after we suggested the tone of the hospital's tweets implied a decision to ban smoking across the site had already been made, we got this reply:

@royalhospital: definitely NOT made - survey will enable Board to make decision about new policy. 1897 views2 consider 1st - For & against

There were several more tweets I haven't posted here and the issue was given a further lease of life yesterday when the Derbyshire Times tweeted a link to my article, provoking several more comments from people for and against a ban.

Thankfully none of them were posted by @royalhospital which would do well to adopt a less partial position while the 'consultation' is ongoing.

I'm grateful nevertheless to Twitter for once again shining a light on the minds of those who work in public health.

To say they lack empathy for people who smoke is an understatement.

As for their ignorance of what constitutes a risk to public health - well, I'll leave that for another day.

Ban on smoking on hospital grounds sends wrong message about our 'caring' NHS

As if they've got nothing better to do, managers at Chesterfield Royal Hospital are considering a comprehensive smoking ban.

Earlier this week the Derbyshire Times asked me for 200-300 words on the subject. I don't know if it's been published yet (it's not online) but this was my response:

A ban on smoking across the entire site at Chesterfield Royal Hospital will send quite the wrong message about our ‘caring’ NHS.

There’s nothing caring about ordering people to walk several hundred yards before they can light up. It could be dark, late at night, or raining. It will almost certainly be next to a busy main road. Why treat anyone like that?

It may not look good if people are smoking on hospital grounds but is enforcing a smoking ban really a priority for over-stretched hospital resources?

According to a recent national poll tackling smoking was considered the lowest in a list of priorities for the NHS, behind even obesity and alcohol issues. The most important issues were investing in new doctors and nurses, addressing response times at A&E, and improving general waiting times.

Managers say the NHS spends £2.7 billion a year treating smoking-related health problems. Well, I’ve got news for them. Smokers contribute over £10 billion annually through tobacco taxation. If you contribute that amount to public funds you don’t deserve to be treated in such a cold-hearted manner.

Behind this policy is a degree of bullying that is unacceptable in a tolerant society. People are no longer educated about the health risks of smoking. Today they are patronised, insulted, and made to feel like lepers.

The public health industry is engaged in a campaign of creeping prohibition. Banning smoking in the open air, even on hospital grounds, is a step too far.

The journalist who commissioned the piece commented, "You raise some really good points."

Hospital managers will think differently, no doubt. The chances of them even listening are zero, I would guess.

As for making the grounds "safe and healthier for all", where is the evidence that banning smoking across the site will make any difference?

All it will do is further denormalise smokers and that, as we know, is the real purpose of these petty initiatives.

Update: The report appeared in the Derbyshire Times in July 2.

We can work it out

Public Health England say employers should let staff travel to work at less busy times of day during the heatwave.

Thankfully I no longer commute every day to London but when I did I learned that during hot weather it was best to travel to work early when it was still relatively cool and public transport was less crowded.

I didn't need the state to advise me and as an employer I definitely didn't need a taxpayer-funded NGO to tell me how to run my business.

I could work it out for myself.

Btw, is 'head of extreme events at PHE' a full-time job? I'd love to know what else, apart from a heatwave, qualifies as an "extreme event" at PHE.

Q: What should we do about our lovely neighbours who smoke? A: Get a life?

Whenever possible I try to listen to Graham Norton on Radio 2 on Saturday mornings.

More often than not I'm driving my children somewhere so I catch some but not all of it.

My favourite bit of the programme is 'Grill Graham' where he discusses "the latest dilemmas" with comedian Maria McErlane.

I missed it on Saturday but thanks to a member of the Friends of Forest Facebook group my attention has been drawn to one of this week's dilemmas.

In short, Mary wrote in to say that while she and her husband like their "lovely" neighbours of 20 years, there's a problem:

"They smoke and the smell seeps through our wall. It's beginning to really get to us. What should we do?"

You can listen to Graham and Maria's response here. And the listeners' responses here.

Enjoy.