That plain packaging statement: Malcolm Tucker would be very proud

Postscript to yesterday's events.

Following the announcement by public health minister Jane Ellison that the government is "minded" to introduce plain packaging after a "final short consultation", I spent most of the day doing radio and TV interviews.

They included Five Live, World at One (Radio 4), PM (Radio 4), Sky News, ITV News and the BBC's Six O'Clock News.

Forest's reaction was also featured on news bulletins on these radio stations:

BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio WM, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Radio Wiltshire, BBC Radio Guernsey and BBC Radio Tees.

The press, for some reason, was far less interested in what we had to say. And BBC News online ignored us completely.

The real story however is what went on behind the scenes. I'd like to tell you but I've no idea. It's a job for an investigative journalist.

What I know is, as soon as Sir Cyril Chantler handed in his report last week, we were on red alert in anticipation of a government statement.

Every day there was a new and different rumour as to when Sir Cyril's report would be published. One source even suggested it would be made public last Friday, within hours of it being handed over.

Friday came and went and surprisingly the report wasn't even leaked to a Sunday newspaper.

After that the rumours flew thick and fast. The Government was going to make a statement on Tuesday. Then it was Thursday.

On Wednesday, shortly before noon, I was told, definitely, that a statement wouldn't happen this week or next. I understand this information came from the Department of Health itself.

Lo and behold, shortly before midnight on Wednesday, I got another phone call. The Government was going to make a statement in the House of Commons at 11.15 the following morning.

Unbelievable.

In fact, sources have since told me the government was still flip-flopping as late as 7.30 yesterday morning.

One minute the statement was off, then it was on again. The picture it created was like a scene from The Thick Of It.

There was even a suggestion the statement was only being made to distract attention from the Maria Miller expenses scandal. If true, Malcolm Tucker would be very proud.

Anyway, we prepared three press releases in response to what we thought the government might announce.

(I should add that at no stage did we think Sir Cyril was going to do anything other than support plain packaging. Regardless of the evidence, a paediatrician was never going to upset the medical establishment by advocating the status quo.)

Statement number one: government would acknowledge Sir Cyril's report and announce further discussions with other interested parties without committing to plain packaging.

Statement number two: government would accept Sir Cyril's report, declare support for plain packaging, but announce further consultation.

Statement number three: government would accept Sir Cyril's report and proceed at full speed with plain packaging.

Without being wise after the event, we guessed correctly that the government would go with statement number two, or something similar.

Statement number one would have been justified but it was unlikely to happen because it would have brought the wrath of the tobacco control industry, including the Labour party, down on government.

It would have been right, and brave, but bravery (or principle) isn't a quality I associate with David Cameron's Conservative party.

So we are where we are. The government has made clear it supports plain packaging but there will be a short delay while it consults further.

I'm sure most readers of this blog are as hacked off about this as I am but this "final short consultation" gives us an opportunity to make our feelings known – again – and we must make the most of it.

Next week we will announce how you can help.

I'm off to Scotland now (Glasgow tonight, then Largs on the Ayrshire coast). While I'm gone I'll leave you with this essential reading:

Plain packaging doesn't work (Nick de Bois MP)
Plain packs edging closer (Chris Snowdon)
What we learned from Ellison and Chantler today (Dick Puddlecote)
Protect our children – from nasty politicians (Brian Monteith)

PS. Great contributions in parliament yesterday from the likes of Jacob Rees Mogg, Rob Halfon, and Philip Davies.

Glad to see some MPs are still willing to stand up and fight paternalism and prohibition.

Update: Hear me talking to Shelagh Fogarty (Five Live) here.

The PM report (Radio 4) is here. It features an interview with Mike Ridgeway of the UK packaging industry.

Government announcement on plain packaging

Government to make statement in the House of Commons on standardised packaging of tobacco.

Statement expected between 11.15 and 11.30am. Watch this space.

Update on Thursday, April 3, 2014 at 10:59 by Simon Clark

The government has announced it plans to proceed with plain packaging following a "final short consultation":

Here is Forest's response:

ANTI PLAIN PACK CAMPAIGNERS URGE GOVERNMENT TO KEEP AN "OPEN MIND"

Campaigners have urged the government to keep an "open mind" on plain packaging legislation following an announcement by public health minister Jane Ellison.

According to Ellison the government is currently minded to proceed with plain packaging but will conduct a final short consultation.

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest which runs the Hands Off Our Packs campaign, said:

"It makes sense for the government to take its time and consult further but it seems perverse to commit to a policy before those discussions have taken place.

"If further consultation is to have any meaning the government must keep an open mind.

"The final decision on standardised packaging must be based on hard evidence that it stops children smoking. Conjecture and subjective opinion are not enough."

Clark urged the government not to forget the outcome of the public consultation on plain packaging.

"A four-month consultation resulted in over 665,000 responses, two thirds of them opposed to plain packaging.

"We urge government not to ignore those responses which were submitted in good faith.

"Failure to take into account the result of a public consultation would leave a very bad taste and could alienate a large number of voters, many of whom could be driven to vote for Ukip in protest."

I'm off to do Five Live and possibly the World at One on Radio 4.

Smoking shelters for hardworking people

I was on BBC Radio Sussex this morning.

According to a local news agency, 'An ambulance trust where every employee is banned from smoking is splashing out NHS cash on shelters for those staff who can't beat the craving for a cigarette.'

Naturally I supported the trust's decision which demonstrates a welcome pragmatism, not to mention a caring attitude to members of staff who choose to smoke during their breaks.

What disturbs me is that SECAmb had to act because of complaints about staff smoking in "public view".

It is really that offensive?

For goodness sake. Have those complaining got nothing better to do than snitch on hardworking people (as George Osborne might say)?

As for the "angry soon-to-retire paramedic", the sooner he (or she) retires the better. I wouldn't want someone like that looking after me following an accident!

Update on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 10:56 by Simon Clark

I was interviewed on Radio Sussex by Jeni Barnett who is standing in for the regular presenter.

A couple of years ago Jeni interviewed me for BBC London. She's an ex-smoker and we had a bit of a ding-dong.

I accused her of being "patronising" and "middle class" in her attitude to smoking. She claimed (in a very plummy voice!) that she was far from being middle class.

As I was faded out I heard her tell listeners, "Well, I won that argument."

Today she could not have been nicer or more friendly. In fact she finished the interview by saying, "Forest are very lucky to have you."

I think I've found my soulmate.

April Fool? "Sugar must only be available on prescription"

I confess I'm a curmudgeon when it comes to April Fool jokes.

What used to be a bit of fun has become boring and predictable. Why does anyone bother?

Truth is, real life is so ridiculous these days it's impossible to tell fact from fiction.

For example, is this an April Fool: Seven-a-day fruit and veg 'saves lives' (BBC News)?

Probably not, but it could be.

A couple of years ago we sent out a Hands Off Our Packs press release entitled 'Easter eggs to be sold in plain packaging':

Easter eggs could be sold in plain packaging from next year.

Public health campaigners want all seasonal confectionary to be sold in uniform beige packs which research has shown is the colour that is least appealing to children and the obese.

Proposals being considered by the Government would remove all branding and colourful packaging in an attempt to reduce indulgence levels.

Public health groups have welcomed the proposals. "If this legislation stops one young person from picking up a shiny, glitzy Easter egg and prevents them becoming addicted to chocolate then it will have been worthwhile," said Candy Barr, chief executive officer for Action on Eating and Health.

“We would also like Easter eggs to be sold behind closed doors in retail outlets. At present they are on open display which is far too tempting for customers.”

Yesterday we dug it out, dusted it down, and sent it to our media contacts in Ireland.

Last night our man in Cork, John Mallon, dropped me a note to say he's been booked to do an interview this morning on an Irish radio station.

Topic: plain packs for Easter eggs.

John says he will demand plain packaging for Easter Eggs "and much else too".

"Sugar," he says, "must only be available on prescription."

This should be fun. Listen live to Tipp FM online at 10.45.

Farage on 4 - don't miss it

Looking forward to watching Nigel Farage: Who Are You? on TV tonight.

This is how Channel 4 describes the documentary, which starts at 7.30:

On a six-month journey full of incident, controversial filmmaker Martin Durkin gets to know Nigel Farage, the controversial UKIP leader who's turning British politics upside down.

You may remember that we invited Nigel to take part in Forest's Liberty Lounge event at The Comedy Store during the Conservative conference in Manchester last year.

I wrote about it here, Nigel Farage lights up Conservative conference fringe, and added this postscript:

Boris Johnson was the star of another not-so-fringe meeting at exactly the same time that Nigel Farage was appearing at The Comedy Store.

The BBC sent reporters to both events - see Tory conference: Boris Johnson v Nigel Farage.

The Forest/IEA meeting was also filmed by a TV crew making a documentary about Farage for Channel 4.

I would be very surprised if our event is featured in the Durkin's documentary, if only because it was the smallest of three meetings Nigel took part in that day, but there may be a shot of him drinking and smoking outside before his interview with the IEA's Mark Littlewood.

Either way, it should be an entertaining 60 minutes.

See also: Censorship of Forest Tory ad "heavy-handed to say the least" and Invitation to A Beer and a Fag with Farage and other events.

Update: An early scene did feature Farage at the Forest/IEA event 'A Beer and a Fag with Farage' at The Comedy Store in Manchester.

Sadly we weren't credited.

BBC London presenter to Labour MP: "What do you want to ban next?"

I did an interview on Friday evening with the excellent Eddie Nestor on BBC London.

It was at 6.20 and I was standing outside The Castle Inn, Cambridge, where I was having an after work drink with a colleague.

Also on was Tooting MP Sadiq Khan. Sadiq believes government should extend the smoking ban to stop people smoking in more public spaces.

Here are some highlights:

Sadiq: "Legislation changes behaviour."

Me: "You really are patronising!"

Eddie: "What do you want to ban next?"

Sadiq: "If I can discourage my children, and your children, to start smoking that is a good thing."

That says it all, really.

Of course I'd prefer my children not to smoke (until they're 18 and can decide for themselves) but it's none of Sadiq's business whether they do or not.

Focus on your own children, Sadiq, but leave mine alone.

What next? Perhaps you'd like to discourage my teenage children from drinking alcohol or eating junk food as well.

Or perhaps you'd like them taken into care as soon as they're born and their entire childhood can be supervised by the state according to some official rulebook.

Is that what you want?

Click here to listen. The discussion starts at 01:15:00.

Bold new look for Hands Off Our Packs!

Sir Cyril Chantler is understood to have delivered his report on standardised packaging last week.

The review of the evidence on the effect of plain packaging on public health was commissioned by the Government – on the instructions, we are told, of David Cameron – in November.

Sir Cyril invited submissions from all sides of the debate. This was followed by meetings with a number of interested parties.

Two officials were seconded from the Department of Health to help him.

Earlier this month he travelled to Australia where standardised packs were introduced in December 2012 and where there is still no evidence to suggest the policy has had any positive impact on public health.

Despite this, and even before Sir Cyril's report has been made public, pressure is building on government to introduce the policy.

There are a number of scenarios – which I won't go into here – but we are planning for every eventuality.

This week, for example, we are rebranding the Hands Off Our Packs campaign and launching a new microsite.

As ever, we will be appealing for your help and support.

Full details to follow. Watch this space.

Who is Andy Rowell and why is he economical with the truth?

Andy Rowell describes himself on Twitter as a "freelance writer/ investigative journalist specialising in environmental, health and lobbying issues".

He's co-author of A Quiet Word: Lobbying, Crony Capitalism And Broken Politics In Britain.

Rowell and his co-author Tamasin Cave are directors of Spinwatch which "investigates the way that the public relations (PR) industry and corporate and government propaganda distort public debate and undermine democracy".

The advisory board of Spinwatch includes some interesting names – Caroline Lucas, Britain's first Green MP and former leader of the Green party; Guardian columnist George Monbiot; and John Pilger, contributor to the Guardian, Mirror, New Statesman and Independent.

He's also a "part-time research fellow at Bath University", home of the Tobacco Control Research Group, so it won't surprise you to learn that Rowell has written an article for the Independent on Sunday today in which he "reveals the tactics of an industry desperate to head off new rules on packaging".

Recycling information that has already been published elsewhere, Rowell writes:

Leaked documents from PMI show the extent of the sophisticated lobbying and media campaign undertaken by the industry to “ensure” that the Government does not introduce plain packaging.

“Tobacco industry whistle-blowers have revealed the underhand use of third parties, front groups and lobbyists to try to prevent new regulations for tobacco,” argued Deborah Arnott from the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).

Messengers identified by PMI, writes Rowell, include:

... the influential campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the latter having received tens of thousands of pounds of tobacco money. The BBC, in particular, has been heavily criticised for airing the IEA’s views without disclosing its links to tobacco.

Forest gets a mention too:

Forest, predominately funded by the tobacco industry, launched a campaign called Hands Off Our Packs and hired a marketing firm to employ several hundred canvassers in dozens of locations to garner signatures to be submitted to the consultation. Their canvassing tactics have been called into question, including where signatures were forged or canvassers misrepresented how plain packaging works. Forest has condemned these incidents, saying they were “isolated”.

Bias comes in many forms and bias by omission is one of them.

For example, Rowell fails to mention a far more serious case of vote rigging – by tobacco control campaigners – which Angela Harbutt and I wrote about here and here.

He also omits to mention that the BBC's chief critic when it comes to the IEA's tobacco funding is George Monbiot, a member of the Spinwatch Advisory Board.

Another small but significant omission is the fact that the Indy describes Rowell as a "part-time research fellow at Bath University" but fails to explain exactly what he does.

In fact, he's a senior research fellow with the University's Tobacco Control Research Group, a job he shares with Dr Eveline Lubbers.

According to her profile:

Together they developed TobaccoTactics.org as a cutting-edge model of monitoring the tobacco industry, launched in June 2012.

Rowell can call himself a "freelance writer/investigative journalist" but anyone involved in an exercise like that is also a propagandist for the tobacco control industry. (See my review of Tobacco Tactics, published in October 2012.)

Then again, his obsession with the tobacco industry goes back a long way, so at least he's consistent. Here are two examples:

Tobacco explained: The truth about the tobacco industry in its own words, Clive Bates and Andy Rowell (1998)

No smoke without fire (2000): Tobacco smuggling has reached epidemic levels. But tobacco companies themselves are fuelling the trade. Andy Rowell and Rich Cookson report.

Anyway, if you want to read Rowell's article in today's Indy, go to Plain packaging: Big Tobacco prepares for ‘bare-knuckle fight’ over ban.