Belgian waffle

Currently in Brussels - Tout Bon, to be precise.

Tout Bon is an unpretentious cafe restaurant in the Place du Luxembourg, next to the European Parliament.

I 'discovered' it on a previous trip to Brussels and it's one of my favourite cafes anywhere.

The coffee is acceptable (that's a compliment, btw) but what I like best are the fresh pastries.

I also like the decor, wooden floor, the simple wooden tables and chairs, the fast wifi and friendly service.

I could sit here happily all day with my laptop and phone. Who needs an office?!

Those were the days

Another year another Budget and another increase in tobacco duty.

Twenty-six years ago Chancellor Nigel Lawson made the headlines for NOT putting extra duty on tobacco and alcohol.

It caused such a stir that Forest campaigns director Chris Tame was invited to appear on Wogan with Dr John Moore Gillan of the British Lung Foundation.

To view the interview click on the image below.

A non-smoker and co-founder of the Libertarian Alliance, Chris subsequently became director of Forest (1990-1995). He died of bone cancer in 2006.

Update on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 15:54 by Simon Clark

In his Budget statement Osborne announced that tax on tobacco wouldn't change.

Bit disingenuous. "No change" on tobacco duty means "inflation plus two per cent" not "frozen" (like wine).

The RPI is one per cent so the increase is three per cent, or 16-17p for a packet of 20.

Blackburn Rovers to trial designated smoking area

This is interesting.

Blackburn Rovers will tonight become the first football club to trial a half-time smoking area since smoking was banned in all football stadiums.

According to the club's website:

This designated area will be in the home section of the lower tier in the Bryan Douglas Darwen End Stand. Should this trial prove to be successful then the scheme will be rolled out to other areas of the ground. The process will be as follows:

Five minutes before the half-time whistle the final exit doors numbered SX07 (directly next to Turnstile Block ‘R’) will be opened to allow supporters to leave the enclosed area of the concourse and enter an area designated by barriers.

See: Rovers to trial smoking area at Brentford match

It's bit like a nightclub having an outside smoking area where people can step outside, light up, and re-enter the building without hassle.

According to BBC Radio Lancashire the club is doing it because there have been problems with people smoking on concourses and in the toilets.

Personally I don't have a problem with people smoking on a large open concourse but some people do.

Consequently there are two options. One, clamp down hard and remove people from the stadium if they're caught; or, two, seek a compromise that accommodates adults who want to smoke and those who don't want to be exposed to even a whiff of tobacco smoke inside the stadium.

Blackburn have chosen the latter option. It's not perfect but it's better than a comprehensive ban. I hope it works and is extended to other areas of the ground and, perhaps, other stadiums.

Forest events: dates for your diary

I'm pleased to announce the dates of our two summer events:

Smoke On The Water, our annual boat party aboard The Elizabethan, a Mississippi-style paddle steamer, is on Wednesday June 24.

As usual guests will embark at Westminster Pier from 7.00pm. The boat will leave the pier at 8.00pm, head down river towards Canary Wharf, and return to Festival Pier at 10.00pm.

Places are free but admittance is by ticket only so you must register in advance. Email events@forestonline.org or call Nicky on 01223 370156.

Our fourth Freedom Dinner is at Boisdale of Canary Wharf on Tuesday July 7. Speakers will be announced after the election on May 7.

Tickets cost £95 each or £900 for a table of ten.

Plain packaging: the bigger picture

As expected peers yesterday approved the bill to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes from May 2016.

As Chris Snowdon commented on Twitter, at least there was a debate. They didn't bother to vote though because the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Newsweek Europe published this report, UK Passes Law to Require Plain Cigarette Packaging in England. It includes comments from ASH, Imperial Tobacco, and Forest:

We've heard very little from the food and drink industries on this issue but their time will come.

I had to laugh, too, when the Confederation of British Industry finally broke cover and issued a statement opposing standardised packaging on the very day that MPs voted on the bill.

Better late than never or too little too late? You decide.

Anyway, lots to catch up on. You'll be pleased to know I won't be writing about plain packaging quite so often over the next few weeks.

Update: A Big Thank You! to everyone who supported our campaign against plain packaging of tobacco.

United we stand (or, more usually, fall)

I'm in Glasgow for the Scottish League Cup final between Celtic and Dundee United.

Kick-off is 3.00pm so I should get home around 1.00am.

As regular readers know I've been a United supporter since 1969 when my family moved to Scotland and into a house overlooking the city.

Forty-six years and many cup finals later, I travel more in hope than expectation. Experience has taught me never to raise my hopes:

1979: Aberdeen 0-0 Dundee United (League Cup)
I was a student at Aberdeen when United reached their first Scottish League Cup final. I know it was a terrible game because I've read the reports. The only thing I remember is that United were very lucky to escape with a draw. A few days later I set off by car for the replay at Dens Park, home of Dundee, United's biggest rivals. However the traffic heading south from Aberdeen was so heavy it was clear we wouldn't get there before half-time. We turned back and listened to the match on the radio. United won 3-0, the club's first major trophy, and I wasn't there!

1981: Rangers 2-1 Dundee United (League Cup)
The one that got away. United's talented young team played Rangers off the park for 80 minutes in a way I had never previously witnessed. It was thrilling stuff. Sadly, despite their dominance, they scored just once. With ten minutes left Rangers equalised and, roared on by their fans who vastly outnumbered United's, scored a very late winner. I was proud of the performance but gutted by the result.

1984: Rangers 1-0 Dundee United (League Cup)
Both teams played poorly. United rarely looked like winning despite the fact that the team (which had won the league for the first and only time the previous year) was the best in the club's history. A disappointing match can be summed up by the fact that the friend I took to the game spent the entire match knitting.

1985: Celtic 2-1 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
Once bitten twice shy. This time my friend stayed at home. I travelled up from London on a British Rail train surrounded by boisterous Celtic fans. As in 1981 against Rangers United scored first, Celtic equalised late in the game and won the match in the final minutes with a partisan crowd virtually sucking the ball into the net. That's what happens against the Old Firm. You might be the better team but the crowd can win it for the opposition.

1991: Motherwell 4-3 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
The so-called 'family final' because the managers of the two teams were brothers. I stood on the old Hampden terracing with my wife and brother-in-law to be. From 3-1 down United equalised in the last minute of normal time. With the Motherwell keeper injured and largely immobile victory seemed a formality but United's Hampden hoodoo struck again. After the match three United players were 'sent off'. According to Darren Jackson, now a first team coach at United, "I got called into the ref's room and got a red card," he recalls. "What for? Shaking the ref's hand and saying he had a good game!"

1994: Rangers 0-1 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
By the mid Nineties United were in long-term decline so any expectation we had of beating Rangers, who were on course to win the treble (League, League Cup and Scottish Cup), were virtually nil. Our one hope was our new and eccentric manager Ivan Golac who was immune to the disappointments of previous finals. In the week before the game he famously took the players for a walk in the park to smell the flowers. In brilliant sunshine United rode their luck and nicked a goal early in the second half. The goal was the result of calamitous defending but after six Scottish Cup final defeats in 20 years who cared? Winning the Scottish Cup was every United supporter's Holy Grail. From that moment I've never felt as intense about football as I did when I was younger and it explains why, today, I'm reasonably relaxed about the outcome. My principal thought is, 'Hope we play well and don't get thrashed.' I'll be OK with an honourable defeat.

2010: Ross County 0-3 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
After the drama and disappointments of previous finals this was a fairly routine win against lower league opposition. It was a nice but slightly underwhelming day. The best thing about the cup win was beating Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox in an earlier round, weeks after we'd lost 7-1 at the same stadium. Hampden looked great, though, a vivid sea of tangerine.

2014: St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
More disappointment. The final was played at Celtic Park where United haven't won for 22 years. United fans once again outnumbered the opposition but it was St Johnstone's supporters who made more noise. Their team played better and deserved to win. The consolation for United supporters was beating Rangers (again) in the semi-final. I'll remember that game long after the final is forgotten.

Finals I have missed include:

1987: St Mirren 1-0 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
United's worst performance ever in a cup final (which is saying something). Having beaten Barcelona and Borussia Moenchengladbach en route to the UEFA Cup final they were huge favourites. St Mirren had won nothing since the Fifties. Inevitably the Hampden hoodoo struck and United lost to a goal scored in extra time. Thankfully I missed the match because I was in Paris.

1987: Dundee United 1-1 Gothenburg (1-2 on aggregate, UEFA Cup)
The Scottish Cup final against St Mirren was sandwiched between a two-leg UEFA Cup final against Gothenburg. The first leg, in Sweden, was lost 1-0. The second leg, at Tannadice, was a sell-out. I was living in London and couldn't get tickets. The game ended 1-1, 2-1 on aggregate to Gothenburg. Famously, United supporters gave not only their own team a standing ovation at the end of the game but also their opponents. As a result the club was given a UEFA Fair Play award and used the money to build a smart new enclosure.

So what can we expect tomorrow? Well, this is the fourth time the clubs have met this season. The results so far have been:

Celtic 6-1 Dundee United (League)
Dundee United 2-1 Celtic (League)
Dundee United 1-1 Celtic (Scottish Cup)

The Scottish Cup match was just last week. Three players were sent off, two from United, one from Celtic. United played 40 minutes of the second half with nine players.

Two of the three players have since appealed successfully against their sendings off. One was a case of mistaken identity. The referee sent off the wrong player but the player he might have sent off hasn't been suspended. All three will be available to play tomorrow.

United's principal striker won't be available however because he's suspended following two bookings in previous cup matches. He also received a further two-match ban following last week's match for an incident the referee didn't see but that was rescinded on appeal so he can play in next week's replay.

Confused? Join the club!

Also missing from the team that beat Aberdeen in the semi-final are two players who have since been sold – for £2.5 million – to Celtic!

For these and other reasons you'll understand why I'm not optimistic about the result.

Meanwhile the Scottish Cup replay is on Wednesday and on Saturday the teams play each other again in another league match.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Scottish football!

Update on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 11:12 by Simon Clark

No surprise, United lost 2-0.

The first goal was scored while United's captain Sean Dillon was off the field having seven stitches inserted in his leg following a challenge by a Celtic player. The referee didn't even give a foul.

The second goal was scored after Dillon was sent off for a late but not malicious challenge of his own.

The good news? Celtic missed a penalty just before the end so it could and should have been worse.

Truth is, United did their best but were toothless to the point of being uncompetitive.

I enjoyed the day, though, if not the match.

I'm not laughing at you, Deborah, honest!

I was going to re-post the interview Deborah Arnott and I did on the BBC News Channel on Wednesday because it got a bit lost with so much else going on.

ASH, however, has beaten me to it. Not once but twice they've tweeted a link to a clip of the interview.

I'm a bit surprised because I don't think it's Deborah's finest hour. Her colleagues must think differently, unless they're having a little fun at her expense.

See what you think.

Video: Deborah Arnott and Simon Clark debate Plain Packaging http://t.co/NXH71417F1 #packetracket

— ASH (@ASH_LDN) March 13, 2015

This Morning and the war on tobacco

I was asked yesterday if I was available to appear, this morning, on ITV's This Morning.

They wanted to discuss the issues raised by a Press Association report, 'Experts call for tobacco-free world'

Sadly I had to decline the offer of sharing a sofa with Philip and Holly or Eamonn and Ruth because I'm travelling to Glasgow (more on that later) and as I keep telling people, I can't do everything!!

Instead I suggested some alternative commentators (the usual suspects) and in response to a further query about plain packaging and the war on tobacco I sent them this note:

1. Smoke-free world only feasible if governments introduce severe restrictions/penalties on smoking that would be more akin to a totalitarian regime (ie incompatible with a liberal democracy).

2. As long as tobacco remains a legal product smokers must be allowed to smoke somewhere - outdoor public places, for example, and at home – without harassment or penalty.

3. Plain packaging is gesture politics - no evidence it will work, children don't start smoking because of packaging but other factors (peer pressure, influence of family members etc). The policy is hugely patronising. All adults and most teenagers are well aware of the health risks of smoking. We hear nothing else, day after day after day. Standardised packaging treats adults like teenagers and teenagers like idiots.

4. War on tobacco has become ridiculous - a comprehensive indoor smoking ban that doesn't allow for a designated smoking room in a single pub or private club, display ban, standardised packaging, an increasing number of outdoor smoking bans, public information campaigns with slogans like "If you smoke you stink" - governments pandering to anti-smoking campaigners (who resemble the temperance movement of the early 20th century) are helping to create an unnecessarily intolerance society.

5. What is often lost in the debate about smoking is that millions of people smoke (10 million in the UK alone) and while some want to cut down or quit, millions enjoy smoking. They pay a huge amount in tobacco taxation (80% of the cost of a packet of cigarettes go to the government) which far outweighs the cost of treating smoking-related diseases, and they deserve greater consideration than they are given.

6. Many anti-smoking measures (eg record levels of taxation) are counter-productive, fuelling the unregulated black market.

When I spoke to them the programme was still in the planning stage so I don't know if they will do anything, or who will appear.

I'll try and find out.

Update: My TV no show (Frank Davis)

Update: The two studio guests were Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at ASH, and a smoker called Mel Fallowfield.

I've no idea where they found Mel but she did well, I thought. Quietly defiant might sum her up. Pressed, she admitted she wished she hadn't started smoking but then emphasised how much she enjoyed smoking. When did you last hear someone say that on daytime television?!

I've seen Hazel quoted online and in the papers but until today I'd neither seen nor heard her speak. I was impressed. If I was running ASH I'd use her as much as possible. She was very natural and totally devoid of the hectoring tone adopted by some of her more grim-faced colleagues!

She failed however to convince the presenters, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, that tobacco could be banned worldwide by 2040. As Eamonn said at the start of the programme, "Never going to happen".