Smokers in Wales face on the spot fines

Early start this morning.

I'm being interviewed by ITV News (Wales) in London. The Welsh Government is pressing ahead with plans to ban smoking in cars with children and the proposals include an on spot fine of £50 for offenders.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Smoking in a car with a small child is inconsiderate. With the window closed you could even argue it's unacceptable but legislation - including on the spot fines - is unnecessary and excessive.

In 2014 relatively few people smoke in a car with a child present, and I can't remember the last time I saw someone do it with the windows shut.

Society has changed and people's behaviour has changed with it but that's not enough for today's interfering self-righteous politicians. They can't resist introducing yet another law to govern how we behave.

How on earth will be law be enforced? Will traffic police follow a car whose driver is smoking, then pull them over if they suspect a child is in the car?

It's even more bizarre when, according to reports, the police are already ignoring far more serious crimes. Smokers however are an easy target.

"Smoking in your car, were we sir? And a child present too.

"I'm afraid you'll have to accompany me to the nearest cash machine.

"Mastercard? That'll do nicely, sir.

PS. I also recorded a short interview for Five Live on this subject last night. Not sure when it will be broadcast. Probably went out at 2.00am!

Is there a spin doctor in the house?

I have been reading with open-mouthed astonishment the tweets by Prof John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health.

Following a series of foul-mouthed, abusive tweets towards vapers (most of which he later deleted), Ashton yesterday tweeted:

I very much regret my choice of language to describe some vapers on Saturday evening and any offence caused.I am taking a break from twitter

— John Ashton (@Johnrashton47) September 8, 2014

At least he had the good grace to apologise.

Since then however the public health lobby has attempted to spin his behaviour in a rather different light.

The Times today has a report by health correspondent Chris Smyth who writes:

Public health chiefs have accused e-cigarette users of a campaign of online abuse, saying that junior scientists are being scared away from research by explicit attacks from "vapers" on Twitter.

It reminds me of the 2012 Guardian report, Pro-smoking activists threaten and harass health campaigners:.

I don't condone abuse or intimidation on social media or anywhere else (it's one of the things I hate about the Yes campaign in Scotland), but there's a pattern emerging here.

Anti-smoking activists regularly dish it out, accusing smokers (and now vapers) of all sorts, but they're quick to complain when those same people fight back.

The Times, like the Guardian, implies that the consumer – not the public health campaigner – is the villain. Prof Ashton has merely "retaliated".

Frankly he should know better but he's not alone. The attitude and language adopted by the likes of Simon Chapman and other anti-smoking activists has often amazed me.

Reading their self-regarding and often abusive tweets is a fantastic insight into the minds of people who appear to have little or no empathy with ordinary people, many of whom they damn as slaves to addiction.

As Chris Snowdon comments:

You have to wonder how many people in the public health racket have the same mentality but manage - as Ashton did until Saturday - to keep it to themselves.

See 'The dark soul of Prof John Ashton' (Velvet Glove Iron Fist).

I also recommend 'The public health mask slips' (Dick Puddlecote).

The Times' report is behind a paywall but the paper does at least note that:

Professor John Ashton is facing an official complaint after he retaliated, calling one vaper a "c***" and another an "onamist".

You couldn't make it up.

PS. Something else that made me laugh was an item on the Jeremy Vine Show (Radio 2), above.

It featured John Ashton and Clive 'Superhero' Bates, former director of ASH, now a pin-up for every hot-blooded vaper, male and female.

Ashton has rightly been lampooned for declaring that e-cigarettes can make you go blind (I'm sure I could hear Jeremy Vine sniggering) but I can't tell you how ironic it was to hear Clive Bates fighting it out with an anti-tobacco campaigner.

I remember having not dissimilar battles with Clive on radio and television. In those days of course he was more than happy to interrupt me and make outrageous claims about the risks of passive smoking.

Those and other allegations eventually led to the smoking ban and all manner of abusive accusations against smokers and the "threat" they allegedly posed non-smokers in pubs, bars and now, it seems, outdoor parks and beaches.

Meanwhile the World Health Organisation wants to ban vaping in all enclosed public places. Clive objects – because it's quite plainly wrong – but thanks to the smoking ban it's a small (and in some eyes logical) step to ban the use of e-cigarettes too.

Oh, the tangled web we weave.

Poll: little support for plain packaging

A survey published today reveals "little support for plain packaging of tobacco" (The Sun).

The poll, commissioned by Grassroots Conservatives and conducted by Comres, is published here.

Interestingly only 32 per cent think David Cameron will make a good prime minister after the 2015 general election. Then again, that's better than Boris (28 per cent), Nigel (22), Ed (21) or Nick (12).

Of greater interest to me however was the question, "Which three of the following policies would you most like to see political parties include as manifesto promises to introduce after the next General Election?"

Seventeen policies were listed including cap on immigration into Britain from the European Union, referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, reducing the level of tax on fuel, re-introduction of control orders for suspected terrorists and introduction of plain packing for tobacco products.

Plain packaging came second last and was supported by just four per cent of respondents which rather proves what we have always said – there is no appetite for standardised packaging among the general public.

Full list here. ComRes interviewed 2,010 GB adults online between 29th and 31st August 2014.

Flight information

I'm a bit late to this but bear with me.

Yesterday evening I took my son to Heathrow. He was catching a flight to Chengdu (China's fifth largest city) via Abu Dhabi.

At baggage drop-off they attached a large red label to his rucksack with the words 'Hot Transfer' in bold white letters.

Looking at the flight times I saw why. There was less than an hour between arrival in Abu Dhabi and departure (on a different plane) to Chengdu.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post.

When I left Heathrow I popped in on friends in Watford. Gary, who I have known since university, loves gadgets and he immediately took me outside with his iPad to demonstrate an app called Flightradar24.

God knows how, but the app calibrates whatever aircraft is overhead and tells you the flight number and where it is heading.

Impressively, it can also track the position of any commercial aircraft currently airborne, anywhere in the world.

So, two minutes ago I checked the position of flight EY818 to Chengdu and discovered it's just north of Calcutta (Kolkata), altitude 41,000 feet, speed 457 knots.

Estimated time of arrival is 19:33 (local time), 30 minutes ahead of schedule, or 12:30 UK time.

Amazing.

OK, I'll do some work now.

Cool Belgium

Dan Donovan was in Belgium last week with his band King Kool.

They were playing a custom bike event which he described to me as follows:

The event, Synergie Meeting, was held in the grounds and buildings of a disused power station on the edge of a small town and attracted some 700 music and bike enthusiasts from around Europe.

On arriving and receiving my passes I was surprised by the lack of high viz jacketed security personnel, unlike similar events in the UK. In fact, there were none. No ‘Don’t Do This’ and ‘Don’t Go There’ signage. It was very relaxed, yet not unordered or chaotic.

The punters and organisers were an alternative bunch but this was no underground rebel event. It had the consent of the local authorities who had been involved, I’m sure, in the year leading up to the show.

The bikes were on display inside the power station where they sat alongside art and photography exhibitions among the old turbines. People smoked and drank freely everywhere without a single glance of disapproval.

As the day progressed so did the consumption of Belgian beer. The atmosphere was pretty lively as you can imagine yet smokers, non-smokers and juniors mingled and danced without any tension.

There were no brawls or unruly behaviour and the noisy event ground peacefully to a halt in the early hours.

Around 1.30am a police van pulled up, three officers stepped out, glanced around, got back in, and drove off. That was the only moment I saw any police. This kind of event would have been very different in the UK.

This was a fine example of a gathering where people were left alone and were free to be themselves without an overbearing health and safety nanny state vibe.

I was pretty knackered after leaving the UK at 5.00am, driving to Belgium and playing a gig. My only sin was wanting to get some sleep.

Government "has not yet taken a final decision" on plain packaging

As required, the Government has notified the European Commission of its draft regulations on standardised packaging.

According to a Notification Detail, circulated on Friday, "The draft Regulations relate to the retail packaging of hand rolling tobacco and the retail packaging and appearance of cigarettes …

"The objectives of a policy for standardised packaging would be to improve public health by:

• discouraging people from starting to use tobacco products
• encouraging people to give up using tobacco products
• helping people who have given up, or are trying to give up, using tobacco products not to start using them again
• reducing the appeal or attractiveness of tobacco products
• reducing the potential for elements of the packaging of tobacco products other than health warnings to detract from the effectiveness of those warnings
• reducing opportunities for the packaging of tobacco products to mislead consumers about the effects of using them
• reducing opportunities for the packaging of tobacco products to create false perceptions about the nature of such products
• having an effect on attitudes, beliefs, intentions and behaviours relating to the reduction in use of tobacco products
• reshaping social norms around tobacco use to promote health and wellbeing."

So far so bad. But here's the interesting bit: "The UK Government has not yet taken a final decision to introduce the Regulations."

That's right, four weeks after the conclusion of a "final" six-week consultation and two years after the original 16-week consultation, the Government still hasn't decided whether to introduce plain packaging.

Not publicly, anyway.

If the Government is playing a waiting game it's doing so for a reason. There is speculation for example that ministers don't want to alienate disgruntled Tory MPs at this sensitive time (pre-conference and pre-Clacton by-election).

Then again they don't want to give Labour the opportunity to accuse them of dragging their feet, hence the notification.

In other words, they're trying to keep everyone happy – for the moment, at least.

In a less politicised world no government would rush a decision like this. Like the 2012 consultation, the 2014 consultation attracted a huge response from members of the general public opposed to the policy. On top of that there are legal arguments (from other parties) that require long and serious consideration.

The EC notification is part of the process towards implementation but there's still everything to play for.

After all, if Portugal, Bulgaria and Slovakia can object to similar plans drawn up by Ireland, there's every chance they will object to the UK's regulations as well.

PS. Curiously the EC notification includes all manner of reference documents but doesn't include a report on the 2014 consultation.

Why not, and where is it? How can the Government notify EU member states of its regulations on plain packaging without including a report of the latest consultation on the issue?

It's also worth noting that the reference documents include a report of the Chantler Review but nothing that challenges that flawed report.

If the 2014 consultation report is to be considered objective and impartial it will have to mention some of the criticism of Sir Cyril's report. Won't it?

See: The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Product Regulations (European Commission)

Wetherspoon pub bans smoking outside

To the best of my knowledge JD Wetherspoon was the first pub chain to ban smoking.

In May 2005 the company announced that 60 of its 650 pubs were to go smoke free with the rest falling in line by May 2006.

This decision was later rescinded owing to falling profits (JD Wetherspoon ends no-smoking trial). At the time however chairman Tim Martin said:

"Half of smokers want to give up and 25% of people smoke and they'll still be able to smoke in our beer gardens, albeit not an enticing prospect in the middle of January and February."

Ironically, the company's smoking policy was taken out of its hands when the Government introduced a comprehensive smoking ban in 2007.

Now the days when smokers can light up in the company's beer gardens may be numbered too. Last night I received an email from a smoker who reported:

This evening I visited a pub which belongs to Wetherspoon. I went outside for a smoke only to find no smoking signs in the front and rear grounds. When I questioned this I was informed that they were complying with the law that said 70 per cent of outdoor space must be for non smokers.

Is this right? I have never come across this before and feel that once again the smoker is being made to feel less than welcome. I will never visit this establishment again but wonder if indeed this is law.

Unless I've missed something the law says no such thing but it wouldn't surprise me if an outdoor smoking ban was on the company's agenda. In 2005 Tim Martin told the BBC:

"An increasing percentage of the population are giving up smoking and a significant number of people are staying away from pubs and restaurants because they are too smoky."

See Wetherspoon pubs ban smoking (BBC News).

Perhaps he feels the time is now right "to go one step further" and ban smoking in beer gardens.

I haven't revealed the name of the pub or its location because I want to check the facts with Wetherspoon on Monday. I'll let you know what, if anything, they have to say on the matter.

Update: Report concerning a different Wetherspoon pub – Customers criticise Stevenage pub’s outdoor smoking ban (May 2014).

Meanwhile it seems the company isn't too keen on the use of e-cigarettes either:

Eddie Gershon a spokesman for Wetherspoons, said: “Wetherspoons for the past four years has not allowed e-cigarettes in its pubs for the simple reason that, in a very busy pub, it’s very hard for staff to distinguish between an e-cigarette and a lit cigarette.”

See Telford pub customer 'told to leave' for smoking e-cig.

The anti-smoking puritan

Yesterday I tweeted a link to a piece in the Irish Independent.

Entitled The Anti-Smoking Puritan, it begins:

Lips: Pursed.

Eyes: Sharp and beady, like a merciless bird of prey.

Nose: Permanently crinkled as a pre-emptive defence against the foul odour of tobacco smoke

Voice: Tighter than piano wire

Overall expression: A sort of sanctimonious disgust

It should be pinned to noticeboards up and down the country.