Brief encounter – Donald Trelford

I re-read Donald Trelford’s memoir at the weekend.

Published in 2017, the former editor of the Observer wrote Shouting In the Street: Adventures and Misadventures of a Fleet Street Survivor after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013:

Being given such life-changing news naturally provokes dramatic, even melodramatic, thoughts. It was time, I thought, to get it all down before it was too late.

Sadly he died last week, aged 85, but to give you some idea of the man his fifth child was born in 2011 when he was 72, and his sixth child arrived in 2014 when he was 76. Impressive!

Editor of the Observer for 18 years from 1975 to 1993, Trelford was from the same generation of journalists as Paul Johnson, who also died recently, and Max Hastings (now 77) whose own memoir, Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers, is one of the best on the subject.

Trelford was a Fleet Street editor during a particularly turbulent time, with the industry struggling to modernise and adapt to the new technology that eventually curbed the power of the print unions and some pretty dodgy working practises.

For much of this time he also had to work with 'Tiny' Rowland but that's another story. (See 'Time to set the record straight on the Observer and the Harrods takeover'.)

Trelford left the Observer in 1993 after the paper was bought by the Guardian Media Group. The following year I invited him to take part in a series of events I was organising with a format very similar to BBC1's Question Time.

The venue was the New Theatre at King’s College, London, just off The Strand. With a steeply raked auditorium, theatre style lighting and a good sound system, the production values were quite high. I even commissioned a theme tune to start the 'show'!

Also on the panel that day (Tuesday May 17, 1994) were two MPs, Piers Merchant (Conservative) and Austin Mitchell (Labour).

Chaired by John Hosken (aka 'BBC John, the Mighty Atom', previous guests had included future Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy, John Whittingdale (still a Conservative MP, 29 years later), and Michael White, the Guardian's political editor.

Subsequent panellists included Dr Alan Sked (founder of Ukip), Labour MEP Richard Balfe, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Julian Oswald, and journalist Simon Hoggart so it was quite an eclectic bunch, but given my long-standing interest in Fleet Street Trelford was the booking that probably pleased me most and I was thrilled to meet him, albeit briefly.

He died in Majorca where he, his third wife Claire, and their two young children had lived for more than a decade, with the former editor writing a regular column for the local English language newspaper, the Daily Bulletin.

He also wrote occasional articles for The Oldie. His final piece, 'Snooker's gone to pot', published in August last year, highlighted his growing disillusionment with the game.

Why has this happened? he asked. 'The main reason is that the players have become robotic - skilled workmen rather than artists.' But he also quoted world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan whose explanation was 'simple'. ‘The smoking ban,' said Ronnie, 'killed the clubs.’

Sound familiar?

Anyway, as an outsider who enjoys an affectionate and probably rose-tinted view of the golden age of Fleet Street, I'm sorry we've lost another link with its past.

Talking of which, one of my favourite books is A Short Walk Down Fleet Street by Alan Watkins, which Peter Oborne nominated as 'A book that changed me'.

Me too although when I read it 20 years ago the world Watkins describes had long vanished. It's still a great read though.

Conservatives and Tories

I wonder if someone could answer this question.

We know the Conservative party evolved from the Tory party in the first half of the 19th century, but why are some Conservatives happy to be called Tories while others consider it a derogatory term most often used by their opponents on the Left?

I mention this because in 2014 a long-serving Conservative member of parliament attended Forest's 35th anniversary party at Boisdale of Belgravia and a fellow guest – a libertarian blogger – took him to task for something the Conservative-led Coalition had done in government.

I don't remember what it was but I do remember the MP took umbrage when his interrogator (not me!) spoke of “the Tories".

The term obviously rankled because the aggrieved MP was quick to put him straight. "We are not Tories," he retorted, "we are the Conservative party." And with that he walked off, unwilling to prolong the conversation.

It made quite an impression on me but I only write about it now because after mentioning the Scottish Conservatives in Monday’s post I noticed that on Twitter their username (or handle) is @ScotTories.

If anyone knows why a current Conservative MP should be upset by the term 'Tories' do let me know.

Scottish hospital smoking ban a failure

Good news.

An 'exclusive’ investigation by the Scottish Sun on Sunday suggests the Scottish Government's ban on smoking outside hospital buildings has been a failure.

Pictures published yesterday show staff, visitors and patients 'brazenly' smoking outside hospitals in Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Kilbride and Kilmarnock.

Worse, reported the paper, 'not one was fined in the law’s first three months'.

The report features comments by Sheila Duffy, 'chief exec of health charity ASH Scotland', the Scottish Government, and shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane (Scottish Conservatives).

Slamming 'the lack of action to penalise offenders', Gulhane said:

“The SNP grabbed easy headlines with this policy announcement, but they have failed to follow through and guarantee it is being enforced.

“Improving the health of people outside hospital grounds was a positive step forward, but people will feel they can flout this ban if fixed penalties and fines are non-existent.”

That in a nutshell is the problem with the Scottish Tories. Instead of offering the electorate a clear alternative to the SNP Government their approach is to go along with SNP policy while complaining that the Government isn't doing enough to enforce a spiteful law that clearly discriminates against the sick and the infirm.

Three of the five photos included in the print edition feature smokers in wheelchairs, which rather makes my point. Another photo (online only) shows a man standing in front a poster that reads 'Smoking is not allowed on NHS grounds'.

To the best of my knowledge this isn't true. In Scotland the law forbids anyone smoking within 15 metres of a hospital building. Beyond that you can smoke on NHS grounds without penalty.

Anyway there was a nuanced response from the public service union Unison Scotland. According to a spokesman:

“We support all efforts to reduce smoking in Scotland, and NHS staff know more than anyone the benefits we all get from living in a smoke-free environment.

“However, hospitals are extremely busy and staff are dealing with the worst waiting lists and waiting times since devolution.

Rules mean that NHS staff have to spend precious time enforcing them when they have more important things to be doing, like providing care for patients.

“And NHS staff who smoke, like everyone at work, should be allowed to do so, outside, on their break.”

Added to this the paper published a break-out that featured Forest's response. It was printed only in the print edition (see below) but reads as follows:

Smokers' rights group Forest yesterday welcomed confirmation that no fines or penalties have been issued outside hospitals.

The organisation – primarily funded by the tobacco industry to fight "excessive regulation" – claimed the crackdown "discriminates" against elderly and infirm patients who enjoy sparking up.

Director Simon Clark also branded fines for breaching the ban "disproportionate":

"“Hospitals can be stressful places and punishing patients for a habit that may bring them comfort seems disproportionate when there’s no evidence it’s harming anyone but themselves.”

He added: "If NHS managers are putting common sense and compassion ahead of heavy-handed enforcement they should be applauded.”

The online report (sans my response) can be read here.

Old Holborn is dead

One day I will make a list of my most bizarre work experiences.

Top of that list will almost certainly be the day I found myself standing outside Forest Bank prison in Salford waiting for the release of pub landlord Nick Hogan.

Nick had been jailed for six months for failing to pay a fine after allowing customers to smoke in his pub following the introduction of the smoking ban on July 1, 2007.

Nearby, with a silver attaché case containing over £9,000 in cash, stood a man in an all black outfit wearing a Guy Fawkes’ mask. His name was Robert Ambridge but to the world he was Old Holborn, a ‘satirical political blogger’.

Yesterday it was reported on social media that Ambridge had died on Saturday. The reaction, it has to be said, was one of rejoicing because since his blogging days his alter ego had become ‘one of the internet’s most notorious – and despised - individuals’ (Telegraph).

I didn’t follow him so I’m going to distance myself from his online persona because there are some things you can’t condone, even in the name of free speech.

All I will say is that, for the very short time I knew him, this ‘middle-aged, recruitment consultant and father-of-six’ did an outstanding job - with fellow blogger, the late Anna Raccoon - in getting prisoner DN5431 released from jail.

Without them Nick would have been in prison for considerably longer than the eleven days it took to raise the money, release the funds, pay the fine (in cash), and get him out.

You can read my version of the story here (‘Nick Hogan - free at last!’) and here (‘Nick Hogan - behind the scenes’).

See also: Bolton smoking ban landlord freed from jail’ (BBC News), ‘Jailed smoking ban martyr is freed by a mystery crusader's cash’ (Daily Mail), and ‘Landlord who defied smoking ban released from jail’ (Manchester Evening News).

That was in March 2010. The last time I saw Ambridge/OH was a few weeks later, in Cambridge, where he was standing for election under his nom de plume. He was canvassing for votes in Market Square, which is where I took the photo above, and I bumped into him while I was shopping.

Which reminds me, the only time I saw him without his mask was in the car park at Forest Bank prison before he changed into his alter ego’s all black attire.

What surprised me was how seriously he took the transformation but, to be honest, when you’ve seen a stocky middle-aged man struggling to squeeze into knee high leather boots in a prison car park, it’s hard not to laugh.

Our paths never crossed again so goodness knows what persuaded him to become ‘one of Britain’s most notorious internet trolls’ (Daily Mail).

I guess people are complicated. And social media facilitates their raw and unfiltered edges. I was lucky though to experience the best rather than the worst of Old Holborn so for that reason RIP.

PS. Also in Salford on that extraordinary day was Juliet Samuel, aka Emily Nomates, then a shy but intrepid reporter for Guido Fawkes’ Guy News. (I made a brief appearance in her report, below.)

Harvard-educated Juliet has gone on to work for City AM, The Times, the Wall Street Journal and, most recently, the Telegraph where she has been a columnist for several years.

Yesterday, by complete coincidence, it was reported by Guido that Juliet is returning to The Times in March to replace long-standing columnist (and former communist) David Aaronovitch.

Big loss for the Telegraph but good news (I think) for free market Times’ readers.

New Zealand - meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

If anyone is hoping that the resignation of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern might signal a change in tobacco policy, don't hold your breath.

The law that will make it an offence to sell tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, has already been passed by the New Zealand Parliament so it would be a surprise if it was reversed, even if the governing party (Labour) was to lose the general election later this year.

Christopher Luxon, leader of the centre right National Party, is already on record saying he is "broadly supportive" of Labour's plan so don't expect much change there.

If there is a tiny flicker of hope it probably rests on there being a hung parliament in which the National Party can only govern with the support of smaller parties like ACT.

ACT was originally the acronym for Association of Consumers and Taxpayers. A pressure group not dissimilar to the TaxPayers Alliance, it was founded in 1993 before becoming a political party and fighting its first election in 1996.

Since then the party has endured an up and down existence but in 2020 it enjoyed its best ever result with almost eight per cent of the vote and ten MPs elected to parliament (one directly, the other nine from the party list).

It remains to be seen whether ACT would consider the new tobacco law to be a deal breaker if invited to support a new government but it's worth noting that ACT's Karen Chhour called it "prohibition plain and simple", adding that "it will eventually create a black market":

"Prohibition has never worked – in any time or place – and it always has unintended consequences. The best way to wean people off tobacco is to allow the market to innovate and deliver products like vaping."

The odds are against the law being reversed but it’s not impossible. Watch this space.

See also: Jacinda Ardern's hate speech clampdown will turn New Zealand into a 'nanny state', say opponents:

New Zealand's libertarian opposition ACT party, which polls predict will enter a coalition government in the next election, criticised the move.

Fun fact: In February 2017 Jamie Whyte, who was leader of ACT for six months in 2014, joined the Institute of Economic Affairs as director of research. He left the role on January 1, 2019, and is currently a fellow of the IEA.

Below: Tweet from David Seymour, leader of ACT, December 14, 2022

Update: Jacinda Ardern’s successor is set to be Chris Hipkins who is currently education minister. Prior to that he was interim health minister during the pandemic.

Deliver us from temptation

There comes a point in many a long-running TV series when the writers run out of credible ideas and, in desperation, jump the shark.

That’s why I rather welcome the comments attributed to the head of the Food Standards Agency in The Times yesterday. Speaking in a 'personal capacity' Professor Susan Jebb suggested that bringing cake into the office is as bad as passive smoking:

“If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day, but because people do bring cakes in, I eat them. Now, OK, I have made a choice, but people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub.”

Although she admitted the two issues (cake in the office, passive smoking) are not exactly the same, the point she was making (I think) is that while people may have chosen to go into a smoky pub, that doesn't mean they should be allowed to.

Even educated people, she seemed to be saying, need to be protected because "we undervalue the impact of the environment".

Leaving aside the suggestion that passive smoking is a serious threat to health, which many of us would dispute, what's staggering is how little willpower she has. Worse, she seems to think that everyone else should be delivered from temptation too.

I’m reminded of an argument trotted out by some ex-smokers in the run-up to the smoking ban. Speaking in support of the proposed ban, they argued that the presence of people smoking in pubs and clubs might tempt them to start smoking again, and that wouldn't do.

A similar argument was used to justify the tobacco display ban, the argument being that the sight of cigarettes behind the counter might tempt ex-smokers to relapse. Seeing tobacco on display might also make it harder for smokers who were trying to quit.

Jepp's comments have rightly been mocked but it's not hard to imagine a future in which government issues guidelines about cake and other 'unhealthy' treats, with some employers introducing their own ban. After that, a tax on cake? A ban on the display of cake in shops? Standardised packaging for cake?

Elsewhere a health agency (Health Canada) is backing a report that says that if people insist on drinking alcohol we should restrict ourselves to just TWO drinks a week.

Inevitably it comes with the type of scaremongering we've come to expect from public health crusaders. In this case we're told that that "at three standard drinks per week, the risk for head and neck cancers increases by 15%, and further increases with every additional drink."

There is of course no context to this figure. We're not told for example about the risk of head and neck cancers if someone is teetotal or has fewer than three drinks a week. In other words, a 15% increase on what I suspect is a very small risk is still a very small risk.

Statistical sleights of hand are far too common because they appeal to the media, the headline writers in particular, and that generates the coverage that institutions need to raise more funding for more research.

Meanwhile, back in the real world ...

See: Cake in the office should be viewed like passive smoking, says food regulator chief (The Times) and What's behind Canada's drastic new alcohol guidance? (BBC News).

The cost of prohibition

You may have seen the poll, commissioned by MailOnline, that found that 52% of respondents would ban the sale of cigarettes immediately.

The poll also found that 71% would support a New Zealand style policy, gradually raising the age of sale of tobacco.

Given that the overwhelming majority of respondents will have been non-smokers I’m not sure why their views are particularly relevant.

It’s like asking a vegan if we should ban meat or a teetotaller if we should ban alcohol.

Anyway I was invited to discuss the poll with Andre Walker and his sidekick, the appropriately named Ash, on TalkTV on Friday at 11.30pm.

I was told that because of the hour it would be an audio only interview but they would use Zoom for better sound quality. When I logged on however I was asked to click the camera button so I could be seen as well as heard.

Thinking it was to be audio only I hadn’t bothered to shave (for 48 hours) but it could have been worse. At that time of night I could have been sitting there in my dressing gown.

As it happens the sound (at my end) kept cutting out so I sometimes had to guess, from their body language on screen, when it was my turn to speak without being certain what the question was.

My argument against a ban on cigarette sales is that it won’t stop people smoking and nor should it because too many people enjoy smoking and why should we deny future generations that choice?

Instead a ban will drive the sale of cigarettes underground and into hands of criminals, with the loss of billions of pounds in revenue, not to mention the increased costs of tackling illicit trade.

More important, perhaps, is the bigger picture. Do we want to live on a society that infantilises adults by removing their ability to make informed choices about their lifestyle, whether it be eating, drinking or smoking?

If you’re unfamiliar with Andre Walker he’s an extraordinarily ebullient character who’s worked for multiple media platforms including Breitbart, the New York Observer and Comment Central before finding a home at TalkTV where his Tigger-like qualities appear to have found a natural home.

He began the discussion on Friday night by describing me as a “good friend” (we’ve met once or twice at Forest events) and finished it by suggesting we meet for a drink.

As you might expect we were singing from the same hymn sheet until, at the end, he unexpectedly inserted a brief public health warning - something to the effect that no-one should take up smoking. WTF!

As it happens I would be pleased if this was a prelude to having a national debate about banning the sale of cigarettes because it’s important the British public is confronted with the true cost of prohibiting what is still a popular consumer product.

When we organised a fringe meeting at last year’s Conservative party conference and invited a panel of speakers to address the question ‘Should smoking be banned for good?’ our intention was to confront this issue head on.

It’s not just cigarettes, it’s what comes next (meat, alcohol, other nicotine products) because you can be sure the public health industry won’t stop at tobacco.

To be honest, I’m a bit surprised that 52% would support an immediate ban on the sale of cigarettes but that’s the world we live in. Tolerance for other people’s habits seems to be on the wane and that’s a real problem.

Government of course has to decide policy based not only on public opinion but also on what’s practical and fair, and banning cigarette sales is neither practical nor fair to the millions who enjoy or take comfort from smoking tobacco.

See: Brits back ban on smoking: 52% want an 'immediate' end to cigarette sales – and over 70% say UK should follow New Zealand's example and phase them out (MailOnline)

Jeff Beck and the mortality clock

Following the sudden and unexpected death of Jeff Beck this week Danny Baker tweeted:

I remember in the 70s when my mum would take the delivered Daily Mirror from our letter box and say maybe, "Oh no … Edward G Robinson has died." I just thought OK, he was an old actor whose time had come. Now my generation are regularly opening their own Daily Mirrors.

Baker is 65, two years older than me, so I know exactly what he means, although I’m more likely to get my news from the Daily Mail or MailOnline.

Often, like Jeff Beck, the deceased is a musician or entertainer I grew up listening to, watching on television, or reading about in newspapers and magazines.

Or they might be sportsmen like David Duckham who played rugby for England in the early Seventies when England were rubbish but Duckham (if he ever received the ball) was brilliant.

Or they might be journalists and writers like Paul Johnson.

Reports of their deaths bring back all kinds of memories so you find yourself swimming in a sea of nostalgia for one’s lost youth.

I wrote about Johnson yesterday but I didn’t mention that I began reading his column in The Spectator when I was a teenager at school, so of course I was reminded of that.

It also brought back memories of other Spectator columnists of that time, writers like Auberon Waugh and Jeffrey Bernard, both of whom I got to meet before they died. So I remembered that too.

David Duckham, whose death was also reported this week, played centre and on the wing for England in the early Seventies.

It wasn’t a good time for English rugby but Duckham was a strong and graceful runner who was good enough to be part of the only Lions team that has won a test series in New Zealand (1971).

News of his death brought back memories of watching Five Nations matches on television on Grandstand on Saturday cold, wintry afternoons.

The pitches were often a mud bath and curiously I remember the matches being in black and white even though we got our first colour TV in 1972.

Like most of my generation I knew Jeff Beck by reputation but you won’t find any of his records in my collection of CDs, cassettes and a smattering of vinyl.

Nevertheless, when his death was announced this week the tributes from fellow musicians were genuinely moving. There was huge affection for him and he was clearly the ‘guitarists’ guitarist’ and a very cool character.

Numerous clips were posted on Twitter and several caught my eye including a very unexpected promo video of Beck playing on a track with Donny Osmond. (Osmond himself posted it as a tribute.)

The one I liked best was Beck performing live with Stevie Wonder in 2010. They were playing ‘Superstition’ which was apparently written by Wonder for Beck before Motown insisted that their artist (Wonder) record it himself.

Watch the video above for the moment Beck plays his solo. It’s a genuine goose bump moment.

Another clip that intrigued me was posted on Twitter by Chris Stein of Blondie. It’s from the 1966 film Blow Up directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and featuring the Yardbirds with Beck and an equally young Jimmy Page.

Also in the clip (below) is the star of the film David Hemmings … and Janet Street-Porter! (She’s the one dancing.)

I was only seven in 1966 but with the death of Jeff Beck and others of that generation I definitely feel the mortality clock is ticking!