Tobacco and Vapes Bill - second reading

The second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill takes place in the House of Commons today.

There will be a debate followed by a vote this evening. Reports suggest 50 to 100 Conservative MPs, including a few Cabinet members, may rebel and either vote against the Bill or abstain. (I suspect more will abstain than vote against.)

Either way it won't be enough to derail the Bill because Labour is committed to supporting it so it would need a huge Tory revolt - 276 votes, I think - to scupper it and that’s not going to happen.

Nevertheless, it only needs 26 Tory MPs to vote against the Bill for the Government to need opposition votes to get it to the next stage, and that’s not a good look for the prime minister.

My guess is that, vote wise, the so-called rebellion may be fairly muted today. The problem we have is two-fold.

One, many Conservative MPs will be reluctant to rock the boat by giving the prime minister a bloody nose before the local elections on May 2.

Two, MPs are today being asked to vote on the Bill in its entirety, and while many Tories are opposed to the generational ban, some of the same MPs are also minded to support the ban on disposable vapes, which is also in the Bill, so you can see the problem.

After the second reading the Bill goes to the committee stage, during which amendments can be tabled, and that’s where it could get interesting, and more complicated.

It has been suggested, for example, that an amendment to raise the age of sale from 18 to 21 might be tabled with a view to replacing the generational ban.

Today therefore is only one stage in the Bill’s journey through Parliament and although the odds are against the generational ban being defeated, opponents of the policy won’t go down without a fight, that’s for sure.

Some, like Philip Davies MP, have suggested they might hold their fire until the third reading (in June) so whatever happens today this is not the end of the matter.

See: Tory ministers threaten to vote against Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban (The Times) - includes a quote by me.

Sunak faces 50 MP rebellion over smoking ban (Telegraph)

I won't be voting for the Prime Minister's Bill to stamp out smoking, says [Conservative MP] Mark Eastwood

PS. I was on Times Radio last night, discussing the Bill with Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of ASH.

This morning I’m on the Five Live phone-in with Nicky Campbell, followed by GB News, and after that I shall I be travelling to London for a possible interview with Channel 4 News. More later.

Update: Just been interviewed by Channel 5 News outside Blackfriars Station. They wanted a soundbite to drop into their evening news and it was quicker for them to come to me.

This evening I’m doing three interviews at Millbank studios in Westminster - BBC Radio Wales, BBC Look North, and Sky News.

Andrew Marr’s producer from LBC has been in touch too but they wanted me on between 6.00 and 6.30 when I’m doing two of the interviews above.

Can’t do ‘em all, I’m afraid.

That said, we’re not as in demand as we might have been. I’m guessing that with a number of profile Tories voting against the Bill (Liz Truss and my namesake Simon Clarke, for example), their reaction is, understandably, a better story than the comments of those perennial lobbyists, Forest.

Talking of which, I was intrigued to read this report in the Guardian - Chris Whitty urges MPs to ignore lobbying and pass smoking ban bill.

It includes a reference to Forest:

Polling is also being used to influence the debate. Forest, the self-styled “smokers’ rights” campaign group, has urged MPs to reject the bill, describing it as “ageist”.

“If you are legally an adult, it’s ageist if you are denied the same rights as adults who may be only a year or two older than you are,” said Forest’s director, Simon Clark. He cited a poll that found 64% of the public believed people should be allowed to buy cigarettes if they were allowed to drive a car, join the army, possess a credit card, buy alcohol and vote at 18.

This is the poll the Guardian is referring to. God help us if only the ‘public health’ elite are allowed to lobby our elected representatives, but that seems to be the way we are going.

Setting the record straight

Since I was interviewed for the Swift Half podcast I've been feeling a bit guilty.

You see, I was asked by Chris Snowdon what I did before I joined Forest and before I knew it I was explaining how I left my first job in public relations to launch a national student magazine (the magazine I was selling when I met John Hayes – see previous post).

When I launched Campus in 1983 it was a completely new venture but the original publication on which it was based was launched not by me but by two other students, Peter Young and Chris Bones, at Aberdeen University in the spring of 1978, and in simplifying the story for the Swift Half I failed to credit them.

Neither would be too fussed, I’m sure, but I’d nevertheless like to set the record straight. The full story, as my increasingly fallible memory remembers it, is this.

Chris and Peter were members of the Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) and Campus was founded when the official student newspaper, Gaudie, fell victim to a strike by the print union SOGAT.

Peter, the driving force, found a non-union printer in Bristol and Campus was born, but when Gaudie returned after the summer break the original Campus team (all members of FCS) broke up, leaving Peter to carry on alone.

And that's when I came in.

I wasn't a member of FCS so, instead of being a de facto FCS publication devoted exclusively to politics, we developed a Private Eye-style of content in which all student politicians, including FCS members, were fair game for gossip, innuendo, and satire.

In fact, we were subsequently sued for defamation by a student who had been elected as an FCS representative on the Student Representative Council (SRC) with the matter eventually being settled out of court.

(A second student tried to sue us but Peter replied to his solicitor's letter with an Anglo-Saxon term rarely heard in legal discourse and we heard nothing more.)

As a further aside, in the autumn of 1979 our small editorial team was joined by two first year students and if the names Nicky Campbell and Allan Robb sound familiar, let me explain.

Friends from the age of four, they grew up in Edinburgh and were in their first year at Aberdeen when they answered our ad for new writers.

I don’t think they were entirely comfortable writing for Campus because they were only on board for two or three issues.

Either way, Nicky Campbell is now one of Britain's best known broadcasters and Allan Robb also had a long broadcasting career before he died, sadly, aged 49, in 2010.

I still have copies of Campus, both the Aberdeen students' newspaper and the later magazine that was banned by 40 student unions nationwide.

The reason – never formally confirmed – was our refusal to take student politicians or the National Union of Students seriously.

I've told this story before (it never grows old) but in 1984 we sent a representative to the NUS conference in Blackpool and when he was refused entry he used his initiative and found another way in.

Finding himself on the circle balcony overlooking the stalls, he distributed copies of the magazine by dropping them on to heads of the delegates seated below.

Cue pandemonium, or so I'm told. I wasn't there.

The funny thing is, Our Man in Blackpool went on to become the 'mysterious backroom Tory fixer feared by MPs'.

The plan, when launching Campus as a national student magazine, was to develop a sizeable following among students and then relaunch it under a new name with copies sold to the general public via WH Smith and other newsagents.

A story to this effect appeared in the Sunday Times written by Stephen Pile, a well known journalist at the time and, coincidentally, author of The Book of Heroic Failures.

Sadly, we never got close to achieving our ambition because our initial business model – using a network of students to sell Campus to students and keep 50 per cent of the cover price – didn't work for us.

We took the idea from Richard Branson who used it when he launched his own magazine, Student, in 1970, but there was a flaw we should have seen but didn't.

Our team of 'salesmen' often failed to pass on our share of the cover price, and we had no way of getting the money back.

In fact, we found it difficult to track whether the magazines we sent them had been sold at all, so the enterprise eventually failed, commercially at least, but thanks to some private benefactors and a handful of advertisers (including The Spectator) we somehow managed to break even.

Anyway, Campus was finally laid to rest in 1985 but it was fun while it lasted and it opened doors that led me, eventually, to Forest.

As for the original founders, a quick search of the internet reveals that Chris Bones went on to enjoy a successful and varied career in a number of roles.

Currently chairman of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and a former dean of the Henley Business School, you can read more about him here.

It’s Peter Young, though, who should really be credited with launching the title in 1978.

His subsequent career has featured a great many twists and turns (too many to list here) but I live in hope that he writes a memoir because the cast of extraordinary characters and the many clandestine adventures he could describe would be hugely entertaining.

Most recently he assisted the producers of a new Channel 4 series about the 1984 miners’ strike (Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain), and even narrated part of episode 3, broadcast in February.

See also: The senior Tories with the secret Soviet past and Friends reunited.

Lookout, it’s John Hayes!

Further to my previous post, another potential Tory rebel on Tuesday is someone I first met when he was 25 and I was 24.

In 1983 I had launched and was editing a national student magazine called Campus.

As I told Chris Snowdon on the Swift Half podcast, the magazine was subsequently banned by 40 student unions so we couldn’t sell it through the student union shops on campus.

This was a significant problem that eventually helped defeat the project but initially, to get round the ban, we sold it door-to-door in halls of residence around the country.

On one occasion that took us to Nottingham which is how I met John Hayes, now Sir John and chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory backbenchers.

Back then however he was still a student, albeit a leading member of the Nottingham University Conservative Association and a bit of a character even then.

We had to sell the magazine in the evenings because that was when students were most likely to be in their rooms. And it must have been winter because I remember it being dark, and cold.

Officially we weren’t allowed to sell door-to-door in halls of residence so the whole exercise had to be carried out discreetly and at speed.

In particular we had to be wary of informers (political opponents especially) who might snitch on us, and occasionally they did, forcing us to out-run whoever might be sent to stop us.

If I remember, as well as guiding us around some of the halls on the Nottingham campus, John acted as our lookout and although there was an attempt to stop us, we managed - with his help - to give our pursuers the slip.

In fact, we enjoyed one of our more successful (and profitable) evenings.

Our paths have crossed a handful of times since he became an MP (in 1997) and I started working for Forest, but I don't think he recognises me from that evening and I've been reluctant to mention it because it was a long time ago and today, as a senior Conservative (and former minister), it’s something he might prefer to forget.

Then again, I sense he's always been a rebel at heart so he might recall that evening with the same amusement that I do. I hope so.

Tory rebellion still on track

Further to yesterday’s post about Boris Johnson, the Telegraph reports that:

Rishi Sunak is facing a revolt next week over his proposal to ban smoking after it was criticised by two former prime ministers and his ex-home secretary.

One backbencher estimated that around 100 of his colleagues could defy Mr Sunak, which would make it the biggest rebellion of his premiership.

There is, though, a caveat:

However, even a major rebellion is unlikely to derail the legislation because it has Labour’s support.

Furthermore:

To force a defeat, at least 274 Tories would need to rebel, subject to how other parties voted. 

Nevertheless:

The Government’s working majority is now 51, meaning only 26 Tory rebels would be needed to leave Mr Sunak reliant on Labour votes.

Which would be very embarrassing for the PM.

The Telegraph adds that:

Although dozens of Tory MPs are understood to have concerns about the smoking ban, rebels are split about whether to oppose the Bill outright or attempt to amend it.

The second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill takes place on Tuesday (April 16), when we would expect there to be a vote that the Government will no doubt win,

That’s not the end of it, though. The Bill then has go to the committee and report stages, when amendments can be tabled.

It also has to go the House of Lords before going back to the Commons.

The Telegraph adds that:

Philip Davies, a senior Tory backbencher, confirmed that he would vote against the policy at its third reading further down the line, while another prominent figure said: “I would be surprised if the noes were less than 100.”

I wrote about Philip here following the recent announcement that he is to receive a knighthood.

He was due to host our reception at the House of Commons in February but had to drop out owing to a double-booking.

He nevertheless promised to remain a “hardline opponent” of the generational tobacco ban and he’s been true to his word.

What the Telegraph makes clear is that, while the odds of overturning Rishi Sunak’s generational ban are heavily against us, that’s no reason for us to give up, even if the second reading vote offers only a limited rebellion.

Truth is, Tory MPs will be reluctant to rock the boat before the local elections on May 2 but a bad result (widely expected) could change everything.

We’ll see.

See: Sunak faces Tory revolt over smoking ban plan (Telegraph)

Boris to the rescue!

The second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill takes place on Tuesday (April 16).

Forest has written to every Conservative MP with a copy of our ‘Say No to Nanny!’ pamphlet (right) and a covering letter.

It’s still not clear how many will vote against the generational ban. My pessimistic guess is that relatively few will want to rock the boat so close to the local elections on May 2, but you never know.

What happens after that remains to be seen. A catastrophic defeat for the Tories and … who knows what their reaction might be. A new leader, perhaps?

The good news is that former PM Boris Johnson has made his views known. Speaking in Canada yesterday, he described the generational ban as “absolutely nuts”.

According to the Guardian:

Johnson attacked the policy at the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa, where he appeared on a panel with the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and the political commentator John O’Sullivan.

Johnson said: “When I look at some of the things we are doing now, or that are being done in the name of conservatism, I think they’re absolutely nuts.”

So that’s two former Tory prime minsters - Liz Truss and now Boris - who are fiercely opposed to the policy.

We know that many Conservative MPs share their views so let’s hope Boris’s timely intervention encourages more of them to stand up and be counted.

Does Rishi really want to be remembered for needing the support of opposition MPs to get one of his flagship policies through the House?

By the way, I stand by my view that, for all his faults, Boris ‘deserved a full parliament and the chance to return to the electorate and let them decide his future’. (See Boris: what a waste.)

I’m not saying he was a good PM, but at least he was a relatively liberal one. (I’ll excuse him the Covid lockdowns and even his Net Zero targets.)

And he couldn’t be more right about this:

The party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars … Donnez moi un break, as they say in Quebec. It’s just mad.”

Libertarian? Not me!

I recorded a podcast with Chris Snowdon a few weeks ago.

In the time available (30 minutes) we discussed several topics, not just smoking.

For example, Chris was interested to know what I did before Forest, which led to a brief discussion about the BBC and the changing face of journalism.

I also confessed that I am not and never have been a libertarian:

"There are plenty of things I'd ban if I had a chance. Noisy neighbours, I'd ban them. Cyclists, I wouldn't actually ban them but I'd certainly introduce a lot of restrictions. So, no, I'm not a libertarian."

Here are some other quotes:

"The idea that the smoking ban might be extended to outdoor public places, or there might be a generational ban on the sale of tobacco, I find absolutely extraordinary. It's amazing how we've come so far in just 20 years with the amount of legislation, regulations, and restrictions on people's habits. It's unbelievable."

"I've enjoyed the job [director of Forest] because it's always been a challenge. I've met some fantastic people, and the thing that keeps me going is the fact that many of the people I've grown up with have been smokers. I know there are some people who wish they had never started smoking and wish to give up but, my goodness, I've met so many people who have enjoyed [smoking], and still enjoy it to this day, and those people deserve a voice, and if it's down to me, and Forest, to give [them] a voice, then we will continue to do it for as long as we can."

"Like you, I believe there's more than one point of view in any argument, whether it's smoking, vaping, use of alcohol, any lifestyle issue, and between us – you, me, and all the other people who are out there fighting this fight – I think we deserve to be heard and we've got to keep going."

You can watch the full podcast on YouTube here or above, and an audio only version is available Podbean.

Rural retreat

Just back from a few days in Suffolk.

We stayed in a small field barn conversion on what was previously a dairy farm that dated back to the 16th century.

There were a dozen or so barns of various sizes, plus some rather dinky shepherds’ huts. The smallest barn was a single room. Others had one, two, or four bedrooms with a comfortable open plan kitchen/diner/living area.

Ours had a single bedroom. There was also a battery of wall switches that was so complicated it took me 15 minutes to puzzle out how to get the lighting the way we wanted.

Breakfast and dinner were served in the Great Barn, which in winter has an impressive log fire.

The nearest village - a 30-minute walk from our rural ‘retreat’ - was originally an old Roman settlement.

Today it’s home to 600 people and features houses going back to Tudor times while parts of the parish church go back even further.

There’s also a 300-year-old shop that sells groceries. In 2021 it faced permanent closure when the owners, whose family had run it for 100 years, retired, but villagers stepped in and it is now run as a community shop and cafe.

As it happens, we originally intended staying at the refurbished Swan Hotel in Southwold, on the coast, but the weather forecast predicted persistent rain so I thought better of it because, much as I like Southwold, rain and seaside don’t mix, for me at least.

Viewed from the comfort of our cosy barn, I think I made the right choice. Another time, perhaps.

Roger and out

This blog doesn't have a huge number of readers so I value all comments, even those I have to edit or delete because they are potentially libellous!

Occasionally, months or even years after I have posted something, someone will submit a comment, presumably because they have stumbled on it via Google or some other search engine.

Sometimes the comment comes from the other side of the world, which is what happened last week.

Responding to a piece I wrote in December about the former BBC producer Roger Ordish, who died last year, aged 83, another Roger – Roger Harland – wrote:

Living, as I do, some 6,000 miles from the UK, news can take a while to reach me. It is only this evening, March 28, 2024, that I learnt of Roger's death.

In the late 60s and early 70s was a record plugger and then PR wallah in London. I have fond memories of working with Roger on Top of the Pops and on several items in the Jim'll Fix It series. I still have the medallion he gave me bearing the legend I Fixed It for Jim.

Roger had the amazing ability of being able to sing backwards. When a recording of this was played back in reverse he was usually almost word perfect. RIP Roger.

I am reposting Roger (Harland)’s comment here because I doubt that anyone will see it otherwise.

Also, after I wrote the original post I bought and read Roger Ordish's self-published memoir 'If I Remember Rightly', and despite the shadow of Jimmy Savile hanging over it (Roger was the producer of Jim’ll Fix It for almost 20 years), it's a rather amusing romp through Ordish’s life.

It inspired a lovely review by Tim Waterstone, an old schoolfriend better known as the founder of Waterstone’s Bookshops:

If I Remember Rightly arrived yesterday, and I started reading it this morning, at 6.30am, over my first-of-the-day mug of tea. Thereafter I couldn't put it down, effectively reading it all through at one sitting. Roger - I really loved it. And, perhaps more importantly, really admired it, and indeed, from it, you.

We were such close friends as teenagers, and it is a real pleasure for me to now realise, more fully perhaps than I had before, what a wonderfully rich and rewarding career, and life, that you have led. Your description of it absolutely holds the reader.

And you write so well - the 'voice' is delightful - sometimes very funny indeed - (my absolute favourite of all your wonderful anecdotes being the little Ken Dodd piece) - sometimes unexpectedly vulnerable and exposed. Ace stuff, all of it. So well done, my friend.

How nice is that?

I was rather chuffed that If I Remember Rightly includes a short reference to the show I produced, with Roger’s invaluable help, at a top West End theatre.

According to the author, who I recruited to be both the director and MC:

Back in 1996 I was the compere of a rather splendid stage show at Wyndham's Theatre, London, for a one night stand. It was the Mensa Variety Show. Several Mensa members did their highly talented turns, mostly musical, which I linked with my own script from that famous stage.

I recounted various theatrical anecdotes, including my favourite story about the actress Coral Browne. The story does not work without a swear word in the punchline. My ten-year-old daughter was at the show, sitting in a box with my wife. I apologised in advance to my daughter. I thought my wife could cope. This is the tale:

Coral Browne had just become a convert to Roman Catholicism and was extremely enthusiastic, as only converts can be. As she was just leaving the Brampton Oratory after mass one morning, two theatrical dressers, who knew her well, spotted her as she walked reverentially towards them along Knightsbridge.

"Hallo, Coral, babe!" they cooed. "Are you alright, darling?" Coral Browne eyed them coldly and muttered through gritted teeth, "Fuck off. I'm in a state of grace."

It got a big laugh, one of many that night, and it was immensely reassuring to know that the show was in such safe, professional, hands.