Norway, Denmark, and the end of the Dream

Just returned from a seven-day cruise to Norway and Denmark.

Not the most glamorous destinations, I grant you, but we got a good deal and there was no risk of being engulfed by forest fires.

Last Saturday, having stayed overnight in Lymington in the New Forest, we drove the short distance to Southampton, boarded our ship, and set sail, entering the English Channel via the Solent.

The next day we crossed the North Sea, arriving in Kristiansand in Norway on Monday morning, followed by Copenhagen on Tuesday, and Oslo on Thursday.

A further stop, at Skagen on the northernmost point of Denmark, was cancelled because of high winds that, we were told, made it unsafe to dock. Instead the ship spent a second day in Copenhagen.

Most of the time however the weather was OK - sunny intervals and moderate temperatures.

It’s 16 years since we embarked on our first cruise, a 12-day trip to the Baltics that took us to Warnemunde in Germany (via the Kiel Canal), then Tallin, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Since then we’ve been on so many cruises I’ve almost lost count.

Top of the list is probably the transatlantic voyage to New York in 2017, followed by the cruise to Alaska (from Vancouver) in 2019, and a post-Covid no stop ‘sun voyage’ in 2021.

Over the last decade the majority have been with Cunard (Queen Victoria, twice, Queen Elizabeth, twice, and Queen Mary 2).

Last week however we were on Sky Princess, one of 15 ships owned by Princess Cruises, and I can’t help comparing it with our first ship, Norwegian Dream, owned (at the time) by Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL).

Norwegian Dream was built in 1992 so it was already 15 years old when we embarked at Dover in August 2007.

What we didn’t know was that, in 1998, it had been cut in half with an additional section added to make it longer and therefore accommodate more passengers.

Our cabins were quite small and had a porthole or small ‘picture window’. Looking at photos of the ship, I don’t think a single cabin had a balcony.

Contrast that with modern cruise ships. Most if not all outside cabins have a balcony, with floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors that allow plenty of light to flood in.

The Sky Princess was built in 2019 and the central piazza has the decor of a small Arabian palace.

In place of key cards, passengers are given electronic ‘medallions’ so when you approach your cabin the door unlocks automatically.

(This is particularly useful when you have a drink in one hand and food in the other.)

The medallions work as security tags or ID when passengers get off and on the ship in port.

Matched with an app, they can also be used to navigate your way around the ship, or locate your ‘shipmates’.

In practice, it means that if you’ve taken refuge in one of several bars, your wife can find out exactly where you are.

The on board wi-fi, which used to be an unreliable add-on that cost hundreds of pounds, resulting in a medical condition known as ‘internet anxiety’, is now part of a pre-paid package and worked flawlessly.

Sometimes however the public areas on Sky Princess felt rather crowded, which I think may be due to the current trend for a higher ratio of cabins per ship, which in turn has resulted in more passengers in relation to the size of the ship.

I may be wrong but we’ll have an opportunity to test this hypothesis next year because we are booked on the Queen Anne, Cunard’s new ship whose maiden voyage is scheduled for May 2024.

Accommodating 3,000 passengers, more than any other Cunard ship (even though it’s smaller than QM2), it is nevertheless fewer than Sky Princess (4,610 passengers, 1,411 crew) and most other modern cruise ships, some of which carry in excess of 6,000 passengers, which is not my idea of fun.

As for Norwegian Dream (2,156 passengers), I have just discovered that it was sold by NCL in 2012 to new owners who re-registered it in Singapore and renamed it SuperStar Gemini before selling it for scrap in India last year.

To date, Norwegian Dream is the only ship we’ve been on that has been retired or scrapped. The others (still in active service, having undergone one or more refurbishments) are:

Crown Princess, launched 2006 (sailed 2010)
Grand Princess, 1997 (2012)
Queen Victoria, 2007 (2014 & 2016)
Queen Mary 2, 2003 (2017)
Celebrity Eclipse, 2010 (2019)
Queen Elizabeth, 2010 (2021 & 2022)

Finally, I’ve been asked many times whether I enjoy cruising. The evidence suggests I do, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Truth is, there are pros and cons, as I tried to explain following a tweet by broadcaster Iain Dale a few years ago - see ‘Bon voyage’.

As for our latest cruise, nothing against Kristiansand or Oslo, but I particularly liked Copenhagen. We saw a side to it we didn’t see when we visited the city (very briefly) during our Baltic cruise in 2007.

Lots of independent coffee shops, some great restaurants, and the ‘world’s best Metro’.

I’d definitely go back. A midwinter mini-break, perhaps.

Keeping the lighter flickering

One of the recipients of a Forest award at Boisdale last week was Alwyn Turner (above).

Eight weeks ago he wrote an essay for a website called Lion and Unicorn that features the work of five writers including Alwyn, an historian who writes about British culture and politics.

‘Time takes a cigarette’ (the opening words of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’, my favourite Bowie song) took a nostalgic look at some of the cigarettes and tobacco favoured by the author in the days when he was a smoker.

Even for a non-smoker like me, it was a hugely evocative piece, combining snippets of social history with pop culture.

Today, Alwyn is an ex-smoker who is ‘very happy to accept that the War on Tobacco has been a Good Thing’, although the ironic use of capital letters suggests a slightly more ambiguous verdict.

Nevertheless, I did wonder if he would accept our invitation to the Forest Summer Lunch because I understand why some people hesitate or decline to attend our events.

Also, he didn’t know he was going to be given an award until we announced it, so there was no incentive other than simple curiosity allied to an open mind.

I am delighted he did come because not only was he a charming and erudite guest, he has since written a rather lovely piece (‘Settin’ the woods on fire’) about being in receipt of an award ‘for the first time in my life’.

Of Forest, he writes:

Forest always insisted that they were not pro-smoking, but pro-freedom of choice. That means the organisation takes in a fair chunk of pure libertarianism, which goes further in its distrust of the state than I do, but even a liberal would have to be very pollyannaish not to be at least a little concerned by the censorious puritanism of successive governments. It’s good to have the likes of Forest around, that they might occasionally question the boundless self-confidence of Those Who Know Better.

As for the following passage, you might not agree with every word, but what a beautiful, even poetic, turn of phrase at the end:

Smoking is probably a lost cause, of course. Forest are, as their opponents would say, on the wrong side of history. But the wider war continues, as it has done for centuries, and there’s something to be said – as the shadows gather – for keeping the lighter flickering.

He then excels himself by squeezing in a reference to one of Britain’s comedy icons:

Tony Hancock once asked: ‘Do we get a badge for doing this?’ The answer, it turns out, is: Yes. Yes, we do. Well, stone me.

Wonderful stuff.

Why vaping advocates should support the right to smoke

Here's my short introductory speech at Boisdale this week. Readers of this blog have heard it all before so apologies for being predictable ...

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for joining us for the 2023 Forest Lunch & Awards.

In a few minutes I’m going to introduce our special guest speaker, but first, a quick reminder of where we were when I stood here 12 months ago.

It was shortly after the publication of the Khan Review, the allegedly independent review by Dr Javed Khan into making smoking history by 2030.

The Khan Review was commissioned by former health secretary Sajid Javid who, ironically, resigned from government a few hours after last year’s Forest Summer Lunch, but I’m assured it was complete coincidence.

Sajid’s resignation was followed, a few minutes later, by that of Rishi Sunak, and a number of us were still here, on the terrace, soaking up the news, so it was quite a dramatic day.

Anyway, the Khan Review made 14 recommendations, including raising the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year until no-one can legally buy cigarettes any more.

It also called for mass media campaigns to persuade smokers to quit, and suggested that the colour of cigarettes should be changed from white to dirty green.

In April this year the Government responded to Dr Khan’s recommendations in a way I can only describe as rather encouraging.

There appeared to be very little enthusiasm for most of Dr Khan’s recommendations, with one exception. The Governmentt, said Khan, must embrace the promotion of vaping as an effective tool to help people quit smoking tobacco - and the Government seemed to agree, announcing that ‘free’ vape kits are to be given to up to one million smokers to encourage them to switch.

Forest broadly welcomed this announcement because we have no problem with any policy that is based on education, including information about the relative risks of smoking and vaping, as opposed to coercion and further restrictive laws and regulations.

Most gratifying of all, both public health minister Liam O'Brien and the prime minister have emphasised and reiterated the Government’s belief in personal responsibility, which is music to our ears because, together with freedom of choice, they are the two things Forest has stood for and advocated for over 40 years.

There are still however some dark clouds on the horizon.

Forest is not and never has been party political. Frankly, when it comes to nanny state measures, there’s very little to choose between any of the parties.

Nevertheless, I think it’s generally accepted that Labour are likely to win the next General Election and, if you can’t remember what happened under the last Labour Government, let me remind you.

In 2002 Labour introduced a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship.

In 2007 Labour reneged on a manifesto commitment to exempt private members clubs and pubs that don’t serve food, and banned smoking in all enclosed public places. The ban embraced every pub and club in the country, including those that could easily have had well-ventilated smoking rooms.

They then introduced a law banning tobacco vending machines

And before they left office in 2010 they passed yet another law - that was later enforced by the new Coalition Government - that banned the display of tobacco in shops.

So when Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says Labour will not only prioritise reducing smoking and vaping, but will consider the New Zealand policy of banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2008, I think we have reason to be concerned.

Everyone knows the health risks of smoking. If adults choose to smoke, they have every right to smoke without being bullied and harassed until they quit.

The same of course goes for vaping.

So I’ll finish with a message for advocates of vaping, many of whom are happy to keep quiet when politicians and anti-smoking zealots go after smokers.

Vaping is next. You might think vaping will escape the prohibitionist tendencies of campaigners like Action on Smoking and Health.

But let’s be clear. ASH’s current support for vaping is as thin as cigarette paper. In their eyes vaping is just another weapon to beat smoking. The idea that adults might vape long-term because they enjoy it is anathema to them.

In the medium to long term they want adults to quit ALL forms of recreational nicotine.

That’s what we’re up against and so, to the smug, self-righteous and sanctimonious vaping advocates who are happy to throw smokers under a bus, I say this:

Forest will ALWAYS defend and support the right to vape. But as consumers we’re all in the same boat, so get off your high horse and support the right to smoke as well as the right to vape because, if you don’t, the war on vaping will follow the same pattern as the war on tobacco.

PS. To view the Forest Summer Lunch photo gallery click here.

Life, liberty and lunch – a celebration

Well, that went quite well.

Despite some late withdrawals, we pretty much had a full house for the 2023 Forest Summer Lunch & Awards at Boisdale of Belgravia on Tuesday.

In fact we had to accommodate some guests in the Courtyard, which is immediately adjacent to the main restaurant, because there were too many for the Mac, as it's called.

That worked rather well, I thought, because it generated even more atmosphere and when it came to the speeches and awards everyone came through to the main restaurant so it was literally standing room only.

Before lunch the smoking terrace was packed (and quite smoky!) but we managed to get everyone seated on time.

The schedule slipped a little after that but I think most people had written off the afternoon, so I don't think it mattered too much.

Huge thanks, as ever, to our host Ranald Macdonald, MD of Boisdale Restaurants.

Ranald reminded guests how long we have worked together. I first approached him as a potential ally in 2004 and Forest has been hosting events at Boisdale ever since.

A few days before the introduction of the smoking ban in England in 2007 we also co-hosted a valedictory dinner for 400 people at the Savoy Hotel (principal guest speaker: Andrew Neil) that was attended by TV crews from twelve countries including Russia, Greece and France. (Newsnight was there too.)

But I digress.

Ranald presented the first award of the day to Ricardo Carioni, who describes himself as a 'true and passionate cigar champion'.

Ricardo (below) was recently appointed CEO of Gesinta International Tobacco Company, 'the leading premium cigar company in Spain'. Prior to that he was COO at Tor Imports, another cigar company.

He is also a former deputy ambassador of Nicaragua to the UK, Ireland and Iceland, which led to a minor diplomatic incident when he was challenged by two guests on Nicaragua's human rights' record.

According to The Times Diary yesterday:

Sparks flew at an awards lunch held at Boisdale of Belgravia yesterday by Forest, the pro-smoking group, after a former Nicaraguan deputy ambassador was seated opposite Paul Staines, the libertarian political blogger better known as Guido Fawkes.

Prickling at Staines’s comments about his president, Daniel Ortega, the diplomat sniffily asked what he knew about Nicaragua, allowing Staines to puff his 1089 book about human rights abuses under Ortega's Sandinistas.

There was, however, a glimmer of agreement. "Communists do make the best cigars," Staines conceded.

The other guest who confronted Ricardo was my old friend Peter Young, with whom I edited a student newspaper at Aberdeen University in the late Seventies.

Peter was subsequently elected chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students (beating Anna Soubry!), and later founded Adam Smith International, the commercial arm of the Adam Smith Institute.

By coincidence, the day before our lunch CapX had published an article by Peter castigating the lack of sanctions imposed on Russia by South American countries including Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. (See ‘The West must crack down on Russia’s Latin American proxy states’.)

Anyway, blissfully unaware of the contretemps, I said a few words about smoking and vaping (that I might publish in my next post), before introducing our guest speaker:

His TV credits include Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow, and Channel 4’s Stand Up for the Week.

He is also a regular on Radio 4’s The News Quiz, and various other panel games, and from 1998 to 2002 he wrote and hosted eight series of the news satire, The Way It Is.

He is to date the only comedian to have appeared on both University Challenge: The Professionals, and Christmas University Challenge. He also won Celebrity Mastermind in 2012, with his specialist subject being Sir Ernest Shackleton.

He has also appeared multiple times on various debate shows, including BBC Question Time and The Big Question.

He writes for the Telegraph and the online magazine Spiked, and he is also a presenter on GB News where he hosts Headliners, the late night look at the next day’s newspapers.

Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to … Mr Simon Evans.

I think it's fair to say that Simon was one of the best speakers we have ever had.

Not only was he funny, but he engaged with our audience, and the subject, in a way that few of our other speakers have done.

Better still, not only did he join us for drinks before lunch, he was one of the last to leave, hours after the event had (officially) concluded.

Very few speakers do that so I do believe he enjoyed himself!

Talking of awards, there were six presentations in addition to 'Cigar Champion'. The first I described as bittersweet because it was a posthumous award to the late Russell Lewis, who was a non-executive director of Forest for 30 years, from 1992 until his death last year.

Russell's award was accepted by his son Dan. (See also ‘A tribute to Russell Lewis’.)

The next three awards were presented to Reem Ibrahim ('Young Freedom Fighter of the Year'), Kara Kennedy (Best Article: 'An ode to smoking'), and Alwyn Turner (Best Essay: 'Time takes a cigarette').

Reem and Alwyn were there to collect their awards in person.

Kara, who works for The Spectator World (the US edition of The Spectator) and recently moved to America, sent us a short acceptance speech which we read out:

When I wrote the column on smoking after a big-name columnist dropped out and we scrambled to fill the space, I had no idea of what the reception would be. It turns out that smoking really does bring people together and shows that the spectator in particular has a very fun/anti puritan readership. I’m honored to be given this award and am very sad that I’m not here to collect it, however, I’ll be at Shelly’s, my new favorite smoking bar in DC, which is so smoky you can barely see the people you’re with. Cheers!”

The winner of our next award ('Best Use of Taxpayers' Money') wasn't present so we invited John O'Connell, director of the TaxPayers Alliance, to accept it and say a few words.

The absent recipient was the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP for (allegedly) having a smoking den built ('with taxpayers' cash') on the roof of his government department.

Last but not least, we invited Chris Snowdon, editor of the Nanny State Index, to choose - from one of three nominees - the 2023 'Nanny-in-Chief' award. They were announced (by me) as follows:

Our first nominee is George Osborne. When he was the Chancellor of the Exchequer under David Cameron, he introduced the infamous sugar tax. This year, despite raising tens of billions of pounds from smokers when he was chancellor, he called on the government to ban the sale of cigarettes in the UK. He also wants the sugar tax extended to fruit juice and milkshakes.

Our second nominee is Deborah Arnott. As director of the anti-smoking group ASH, Deborah continues to demand further anti-smoking measures – whether it be raising the age of sale, higher taxes on cigarettes and tobacco, or a tobacco levy that would push the price even higher.

But the reason she’s been nominated for a Nanny is because it’s exactly 20 years since she was appointed director of ASH and she STILL hasn’t been honoured with an MBE or OBE - unlike the directors of Smokefree South West and Smokefree North West which don’t even exist any more - and we think 20 years of nannying the nation deserves some sort of recognition.

Our third and final nominee is Labour shadow health secretary Wes Streeting. According to Wes, reducing smoking AND vaping will be “priority” for the next Labour government, and he has promised to consider the New Zealand policy whereby the sale of tobacco will be banned to everyone born after 2008.

After mulling it over and eliminating – after careful consideration – two of the three candidates, Chris announced that Britain's 'Nanny-in-Chief 2023' is .... former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

Officially the lunch was then over but I'm pleased to say we were joined on the terrace for several hours by many guests who seemed reluctant to return to their work, and the final guests didn't depart until almost 9.00pm.

One of them was Chris Snowdon who commented on Twitter, 'One hell of a day!'.

Other comments, received via email in the last 24 hours, include 'What an excellent lunch', 'Great speeches and fantastic company', 'A wonderful event with fantastic speeches, food and smoke', ‘Fantastic ethos, brilliant company ... May Forest fight on for our basic civilized values a good deal longer.'

I'm happy with that.

PS. There is a fabulous gallery of photos here. Do have a look.

Summer in the city

The 2023 Forest Summer Lunch & Awards take place in London today.

New banners, printed menus, and trophies have all been ordered and delivered. Now we’re busy with the last minute stuff. (I’ve been up since 4.00am!)

The most difficult thing is the seating plan because you're at the mercy of last minute call-offs that can lead to gaps appearing on tables.

I've been to events where a table of ten has been reduced, at the last minute, to just six or seven people and the hosts are frantically trying to rearrange the seating plan even as guests are being called to take their places.

So far we've only had a few guests cancel – and we were already over-subscribed – but it’s not unusual to lose more on the day.

Our venue, Boisdale of Belgravia, is not a large restaurant – it can accommodate up to 60 people in the main Macdonald restaurant, plus a further 12-16 in the adjacent Courtyard – but it's a slightly awkward shape.

As of yesterday we had 70 confirmed guests which means we will have to use the Courtyard (which is fully enclosed, despite its name), but the real issue begins when we start allocating guests to the various tables because I know from experience that it's impossible to keep everyone happy!

Anyway, that's my problem, not yours.

This year we have a guest speaker whose name I won't reveal just yet. He's not a household name but he has appeared on Live at the Apollo (BBC1) and The News Quiz (multiple times) on Radio 4, and I consider ourselves lucky to have him.

I won’t say any more because that would give the game away, but it's NOT Geoff Norcott! (Been there, done that, as they say.)

As for the awards, there are three categories this year.

First, there's the Voices of Freedom award which we have been presenting to various freedom fighters since 2016.

Recipients to date include David Hockney, Rod Liddle, Claire Fox, and Daily Mail columnist Tom Utley.

Second is the 'Nannies', a trophy that is awarded to the person (or persons) most associated with nanny state style diktats.

Last year we awarded a 'Nanny' to Javed Khan, author of The Khan Review. Sadly Dr Khan didn't collect it in person, although we did invite him to the lunch.

Instead it was accepted on his behalf by Chris Snowdon, editor of the Nanny State Index, who immediately gave it back to me and I still have it in my office. Occasionally, I even give it a quick dust.

This year a number of deserving people have been nominated for a 'Nanny' but you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out who they were

Third, we have a new trophy for those who deserve recognition for some outstanding achievement but fit neither of the other two categories.

Watch this space.

ASH “sympathetic” to calls to ban disposable vapes

The Local Government Authority (LGA) wants disposable vapes banned by 2024.

On Saturday the story led the BBC News website (Disposable vapes: Councils call for total ban by 2024) and was reported widely by other media.

ASH, naturally, was prominent among the voices that responded to the LGA, but was I alone in detecting a new and subtle equivocation from their previous position on disposable vapes?

According to deputy CEO Hazel Cheeseman:

"ASH is sympathetic [my emphasis] to calls by local councils and children’s doctors to ban single-use disposable e-cigarettes, but the risk of unintended consequences is too great for us to support a ban."

That's a bit like Forest saying, when the debate about a public smoking ban was at its height:

"Forest is sympathetic to calls to ban smoking in pubs and clubs, but the risk of unintended consequences [eg pub closures and the loss of jobs] is too great for us to support a ban."

Can you imagine?!

Nevertheless, Clive Bates, the former director of ASH and a prominent vaping advocate, was quick to tweet his approval:

The most essential discipline in nicotine and tobacco policymaking is the recognition of trade-offs and unintended consequences. Something you will never hear discussed by anti-vaping activists.

So this is spot on from @HazelCheeseman at @AshOrgUK
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Spot on? I read it as ASH having their cake and eating it. On the one hand they say they are opposed to a ban on disposable vapes, but at the same time they are “sympathetic” to the idea.

That doesn't bode well because I’m pretty sure I can remember a time when ASH was sympathetic to the idea of a ban on smoking in restaurants and chose instead to call for a less radical option - more smoke free areas - because taking little steps was a better way to achieve their ultimate ambition of smoke-free public places.

The reality, as I keep saying, is that the long-term goal of ASH and their chums in the tobacco control industry is not a smoke-free future, but a world in which the sale and consumption of all forms of recreational nicotine is severely restricted or, worse, outlawed.

ASH, in my view, are playing the long game. Unlike their trigger happy counterparts in Scotland who, like the LGA, are actively calling for a ban on disposable vapes NOW, ASH at least recognise that disposable vapes have an important role to play if the aim is to encourage adult smokers to quit smoking.

It doesn’t alter the fact, though, that their ultimate ambition is a world in which no-one smokes or vapes, a goal they share with every other Tom, Dick, and Harry in the tobacco control industry.

PS. Talking of the Local Government Association, it’s worth noting that exactly three years ago, in July 2020, the LGA urged the Government to ban smoking in the new outdoor licensed pavement areas that were springing up following the first Covid lockdown.

A combination of forces, including Forest, stopped that from happening, but a new threat to smoking outside pubs and restaurants has recently emerged.

I'll explain more later, but it demonstrates that bad ideas never go away. They merely hibernate until reactivated.

The Lord Palmer RIP

Smokers lost one of their principal allies in the House of Lords last week.

Sadly, Adrian Palmer, the 4th Baron Palmer, died following a stroke. He was ‘only’ 71, but suffered from diabetes and had been in poor health for some time.

A member of the Lords and Commons Pipe and Cigar Smokers’ Club, he attended the Forest Freedom Dinner at Boisdale of Canary Wharf on several occasions. (Four, I believe.)

He also accepted an invitation to Forest’s 40th anniversary dinner in 2019, but cancelled the day before the event:

I am so disappointed that I now cannot make tomorrow’s event at Boisdale. I was so looking forward to it. Please accept my most sincere apologies.

If this implies I knew him well, I didn’t.

Someone who did was Giles Roca, a former director of the Tobacco Manufacturers Association, who last week tweeted:

Sad news. I got to know Adrian well incl the pleasure of a tour & lunch at Manderston (roast pheasant cooked by himself). He was a true character with a mischievous sense of humour, but was passionate about safeguarding the Union and in preserving the traditions of the Lords. RIP

Manderston is the 109-room Edwardian stately home near Duns in the Scottish Borders. Apparently it’s the only house in the world with a silver-plated staircase but when it was built at the start of the 20th century it was notably modern with bathrooms, electric lighting, and central heating.

Of the man himself, the obituaries paint a colourful picture. The Telegraph, for example, notes that:

He was educated at Eton, but claimed to have been asked to leave because he was “so incredibly stupid”.

According to the Scotsman:

The peer once recalled eating a 20-year-old biscuit that was "perfectly edible" as he argued product sell-by dates "are far too cautious", and noted "everybody's amazement" when he was breathalysed one day at 10.30am and passed.

The Times, meanwhile, reports that:

He was a gentle, kind man, who made friends from all walks of life. He was particularly fond of the staff on the East Coast Mainline and invited several of them to stay at Manderston. And after befriending an Antiguan-born black cab driver in London — who used to pick him up and drop him off at King’s Cross — Palmer invited the cabbie and his family to use Manderston for holidays.

On the subject of smoking, he supported the cause even if he sometimes had a funny way of expressing it.

In December 2004, opposing further restrictions on smoking in the Palace of Westminster, he began his speech by saying:

My Lords, I feel that I must start by stating that I think smoking is the most revolting, unhealthy and disgusting habit, but I do have to admit to being a smoker.

Continuing, he pointed out that:

It is important not to forget that smoking is still a legal pastime, one practised by 26 per cent of the adult population of the United Kingdom … It should also not be forgotten that annually the Exchequer receives not less than £10 billion from smokers. There are some 6,000 full-time jobs in the tobacco industry; 23,000 people are involved in supplying the industry; and nearly 58,000 in retailing and distribution.

On arriving here nearly 15 years ago, I remember being told that the House of Lords was the last bastion of civilisation. Since then, places where one can smoke have been dramatically reduced and I am in favour of some of the restrictions that have already been imposed. But I feel that both of the amendments tabled by my noble friends are intolerant and unnecessary and, indeed, would diminish the reputation of your Lordships' House as the last bastion of civilisation.

One of the worst sights in Britain today is that of office entranceways crammed with smokers. Do we really want our staff and, indeed, some Members of your Lordships' House, to be forced into that syndrome? I would venture to suggest that we do not.

On March 1, 2006, two weeks after MPs had voted to ban smoking in all enclosed public places, with the Labour Government reneging on its commitment to exempt private members’ clubs and pubs that don’t serve food, he declared:

My views are well known and are certainly well documented in Hansard, from when we last discussed smoking. I echo the views of my noble friend Lord Monson, and the noble Lords, Lord Geddes and Lord Naseby. Particularly bearing in mind what the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, said, I find it difficult to believe that a party in power can go so directly against its manifesto commitment.

If you own a restaurant, you have to staff it and pay all the financing. Therefore, if you want someone to work in that restaurant you can, after all, explain, “I am sorry, this is a restaurant where smoking is allowed. If you want to work here, you will have to accept that.” There are, of course, plenty of other places where that person could work.

In theory, I applaud the Government for wishing to limit the amount that people smoke. For years and years I have thought that the only way to stop people smoking is to have a blanket ban on the sale of all tobacco products. I know that we would have a bit of a problem because, at the moment, 27 per cent of tobacco products sold in this country are smuggled in. However, I believe that if the Government really want to stop people smoking, the only alternative is to ban the sale of all tobacco products, and I intend to produce an amendment to that effect in Committee.

He was not, I believe, being serious and was just making a point, highlighting the absurdity of the smoking ban and the war on tobacco, but that’s the trouble with mavericks and eccentrics. They can be a law unto themselves, and Lord Palmer was both.

Nevertheless, his premature death means we have lost one of the few remaining peers who was prepared to stand up to the small cabal of anti-smoking peers that dominates every debate about smoking in the House of Lords.

Late last year, for example, he asked, pointedly (and mischievously):

My Lords, have His Majesty’s Government estimated the loss to the Treasury if England became smoke-free?

The 4th Lord Palmer will be missed and Parliament is a poorer place without him.

See: Lord Palmer, aristocrat of vivid personality who lived at the Borders stately home Manderston – obituary (Telegraph)

Above: Lord Palmer at the 2017 Forest Freedom Dinner

Bravo! Little Green Bookshop is a giant success

Herne Bay is on the north coast of Kent, five miles from Whitstable, and eight miles from Canterbury.

Just over a year ago an old friend and colleague opened a bookshop in the small seaside town.

It’s called The Little Green Bookshop and yesterday I visited it for the first time.

But first, some background.

I’ve known Jacqui for almost 20 years. We met in 2005. She was working for a PR company whose office in Margaret Street, near Oxford Circus, was a short walk from where Forest was based after we left our previous office in Palace Street, near Victoria Station, earlier that year.

The proximity of our two offices was a total coincidence, but it was handy for meetings and the occasional catch-up in a nearby coffee shop (Benugo) or wine bar.

Jacqui’s company was hired to help us fight the threat of a public smoking ban and together we devised a campaign, Fight The Ban, Fight For Choice, that included a string of ads in magazines such as The Spectator, the New Statesman, and The Week.

(Private Eye refused to run the ads, claiming they broke their ban on political advertising!)

We also commissioned polls in ten cities throughout the country - a total of 10,000 people - that demonstrated that the public was decisively against a comprehensive ban on smoking in pubs and clubs when offered options such as separate smoking rooms.

The company also produced a number of campaign tools including an ashtray that featured the Fight The Ban, Fight For Choice logo and was sent to every MP a few days before the decisive vote in Parliament.

We had a limited budget but we did as much as we could with it and I was impressed with their professionalism and creative ideas.

After MPs voted for the ban, and our campaign came to an end, Jacqui and I kept in touch, and since she left the company to go freelance we’ve hired her on many occasions to help with this and that.

In 2009, for example, she helped organise the launch of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign at a pub in Westminster.

Over the past decade she’s organised and coordinated a series of media tours undertaken by John Mallon, Forest’s spokesman in Ireland.

For many years she was also a familiar face at Forest events, although we saw less of her after she moved to the south west corner of Wales.

A couple of years ago, after a decade or so in Pembrokeshire, she moved back to England and in May 2022 opened The Little Green Bookshop in Herne Bay.

I’ve been following it with interest and as far as I can tell it’s been a great success, with Jacqui’s PR and organisational skills clearly in evidence.

Even more important, perhaps, are her interpersonal skills because what is evident is the genuine affection and regard people have for her as well as the bookshop.

Here are a handful of the many appreciative comments on social media:

When you next visit Herne Bay, pop in and meet Jacqui. It's such a lovely book shop.

We visited Jacqui at the delightful The Little Green Bookshop in #hernebay #kent today. Bought a book for my daughter so helping local businesses thrive. Only open barely a few months and doing a roaring trade and popular with locals.

Tired but happy author this evening, raising a glass to all of you amazing booksellers on #BookshopDay 📚🧡 With special thanks to the wonderful Jacqui at The Little Green Bookshop in Herne Bay for hosting such a glorious event today 📚🧡

To put this in perspective, before she moved to the area, Jacqui didn’t know anyone in Herne Bay. Slowly but surely she is building a business that is clearly prized (by those who are aware of it) as a small but important local asset.

Last night I attended one of many events Jacqui has organised in the bookshop. And it was sold out, creating an intimate and lively atmosphere.

Interviewed by author and podcaster Mark Stay, journalist Lesley-Ann Jones discussed her book, The Stone Age: Sixty Years of the Rolling Stones.

(I won’t go into detail other than to say she had some interesting insights into various band members and their girlfriends!)

After the event we went for a drink in a nearby pub that overlooks the sea and the pier.

I told Jacqui how much I admired the work she has put into the business and I meant it.

Seeing the premises transformed from an empty, nondescript unit (the previous occupant was a physiotherapist) into a smart and cosy bookshop has been remarkable.

Opening any business post pandemic was a huge risk, but running an independent bookshop in a sleepy seaside town when your main competitor is the might of Amazon is an even bigger challenge.

It takes guts, imagination, and hard work. Bravo!

Below: Jacqui with Forest Ireland’s John Mallon (and me) at a Save Our Pubs & Clubs event at the House of Commons in 2011