Campaigns update

Thanks to everyone who has signed THIS e-petition on the Downing Street website. Since I mentioned it two weeks ago, numbers have risen from 400+ to just over 1,000, putting it among the top 150 petitions. (To put this in perspective, there are currently 5496 petitions on the site.)

Already in the top 50 (with 5072 signatures) is THIS petition which calls on the government to "Amend the smoking ban to allow a limited number of smoking licences to be obtained by owners of pubs, restaurants and clubs from their local council".

One or two people have commented that they don't like the wording of the point of sale petition, and there will be others who don't like the idea of smoking licences (because of the cost etc). I share their concerns but, in my experience, it is very difficult to devise a credible petition that satisfies everyone.

What you have to ask yourself is this: it may not offer the perfect outcome, but if a particular campaign succeeds, will the situation have changed for the better? In other words, don't withhold your support just because you don't agree with every dot and comma. 

As it happens, I have similar reservations about the Campaign for Separate Smoking Rooms - an initiative that would allow separate smoking rooms in private members' clubs (including working men's clubs). In a perfect world smoking would be permitted in pubs as well as clubs, but - in the short term - CSSR offers a limited (and therefore realistic) solution to the current impasse. For that reason, we must support it.

Thanks for the memory

I am staying - for one night only - at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth. The hotel has good memories for Forest because in 2006, at the Conservative party conference, it was the scene of our biggest event to date. We called it 'Politics & Prohibition' and we hired a local events company to dress the De Vere ballroom in the style of a Chicago speakeasy. 

We also hired - from London - the Boisdale Blue Rhythm Band, plus a troop of amateur thespians whose job was to "raid" the premises in the guise of the police, "arrest" one of our speakers (Boisdale MD Ranald Macdonald, above) on a charge of inciting people to enjoy themselves, and then finish by singing the Monty Python song "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life".

The size of the ballroom was a little daunting, but we gave it our best shot. We were joined by a small team of publicists and for two days we enticed delegates with flyers, postcards, and the offer of free champagne and "politically incorrect canapes".

Come the hour we crossed our fingers - and, lo and behold, despite intense competition from 20 or so events elsewhere, some 400 people turned up. In fact, so many people tried to get in that hotel staff eventually had to turn people away on the grounds of health and safety!

Ranald, as you can see, got himself arrested, and occasionally, when I wake up in the dead of night, I can still hear the sound of 300+ voices bellowing out those famous lyrics. 

Our finest hour? No, but it was great fun.

Decision time

Also on Five Live yesterday, a discussion about the new Batman movie. People have been complaining that - because of the level of violence - it should have been given a 15 rather than a 12A certificate. I haven't seen it yet but I have read the reviews and - because of that - I am thinking twice about whether to take my children (aged 13 and 11), even though they loved Batman Begins when we saw it at an IMAX cinema in Glasgow a couple of years ago.

What struck me, listening to people calling in, was how few of them had bothered to read the reviews before taking their children to see the film. Film classifications such as 12A and PG are a guide. If in doubt, do some research and make up your own mind. Unfortunately we live in a society where people increasingly expect others ("authority" figures) to make our decisions for us. Is it any wonder that our individual liberties are slowly being eroded?

Nuts to the nanny state

Driving to Bournemouth yesterday I listened as callers to Five Live responded to criticism of "lads mags" such as Zoo and Nuts. The source of the attack was shadow cabinet member Michael Gove, "a leading Tory moderniser" and a man I have a lot of time for. According to a Press Association report, Gove was due to give a speech in which he would say:

"I believe we need to ask tough questions about the instant-hit hedonism celebrated by the modern men's magazines targeted at younger males. Title such as Nuts and Zoo ... reinforce a very narrow conception of beauty and a shallow approach towards women ...  

"They celebrate thrill-seeking and instant gratification without ever allowing any thought of responsibility towards others, or commitment to intrude. The contrast with the work done by women's magazines, and their publishers, to address their readers in a mature and responsible fashion, is striking. 

"We should ask those who make profits out of revelling in, or encouraging, selfish irresponsibility among young men, what they think they're doing. The relationship between these titles and their readers is a relationship in which the rest of us have an interest.

I have never read Nuts or Zoo, but for heaven's sake! I expect to hear this sort of hand-wringing, interfering nonsense from Harriet Harman, not "liberal" progressive Tories like Michael Gove. How long before another MP calls for these and other titles to be banned from display and kept "under the counter".

Gove's comments appeared in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, an influential New Labour think-tank - which may explain if not justify them. In it he spelled out how the Conservatives will implement a form of "liberal paternalism" - shaping rather than dictating personal behaviour. 

Politically, "liberal paternalism" makes a lot of sense for the Conservatives because there has always been a strong paternalist tradition within the Tory party, and the policy will also win the support of many who voted for New Labour but don't have a strong allegiance to the Labour party - but I can't help feeling that "liberal paternalism" is just a diluted, rebranded version of the nanny state. 

I call it nanny state lite - coming soon to a manifesto near you.

Active resistance

 Joe Jackson - who now lives in Berlin - has THIS to say about the high court ruling in Germany which offers some hope for those who wish to smoke in pubs and bars.

Turning off the power

Email received this week:  

A disturbing and unsettling new social practise is occurring in pubs and clubs throughout England - disturbing for those who like their music and unsettling for the musician. For although the smoking ban means a musician can return home with smoke free clothes, the cost is yet further erosion of the power of music. 

We've already had the 2003 Entertainment Licensing Act closing live music premises, then the smoking ban in 2007 creating further business casualties. Ignore the complete implosion of the recorded music industry, or the 1008 EU legislation that forbids noise over 85 decibels in the workplace, which is playing havoc with the classical music world - the issue here is aimed at the grassroots performer. 

Now, at any venue that does not have designated seating, there is a constant ebb and flow of folks popping out for a cigarette.  

"This not only causes distraction for the focused listener," says guitarist Billy Jenkins (above), who has been a bandleader and performer for over 35 years, "it erodes the confidence of the performer. Why are they walking out? Is someone leaving because they hate the music? I've seen troops of four or five people walk past the front of the stage ... past the sight lines of keen music fans. Bang goes any empathy you've built up with those in the room." 

Something to seriously ponder when you have your next cigarette. 

Any thoughts?

Germany: smoking ban unconstitutional

The Press Association reports that "Germany's high court says smoking bans in two states are unconstitutional, a decision which will force country-wide reviews of smoking prohibitions.

"The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe today ruled on appeals brought by the owners of one-room pubs in the states of Baden Wuerttemberg and Berlin.

"Most German states currently allow larger establishments to have smoking rooms but the court ruled that this discriminates against the single-room pubs which can't offer smoking areas.

The court says either states have to eliminate smoking entirely in all establishments or change their rules regarding the smaller pubs. It gave state parliaments until the end of next year to come up with new laws."

It's an interesting development but there is a very real danger that in order to create a level playing field, the German states will now ban smoking in every bar. (Don't forget that in England, when it was suggested that private members' clubs might be exempt, the pub industry lobbied hard for a total ban.)

The best solution - for Germany, the UK and the rest of Europe - is to follow the Spanish example whereby bars and restaurants over 100 square metres can opt to have a separate smoking room; smaller establishments can choose to be "smoking" or "non-smoking".

But will common sense prevail?

Update on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 by Simon Clark

I have just received the following email from a reader in Germany: "Today the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that smoking must be allowed in small pubs. Formally this decision is valid only in the Laender (states) Berlin and Baden-Wuerttemberg, but it will change the law in the other laender as well.

"Up to the moment smoking was banned in all small one-room pubs whilst in larger pubs smoking could be allowed in a separate smokers room. In Germany smoking is also allowed in all private clubs, so many former pubs closed formally and refounded themselves as 'Members only Smokers Clubs'.

"In Germany it is unconstitunal to ban smoking in private clubs and instutions, which are formally private rooms. You may become a member of such a smoking club by signing a list, stating your personal data, which includes a declaration that you willingly join the club understanding that there might be a danger by smoke or even 'second-hand' smoke and mostly by paying a nominal one time fee."

Update on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 by Simon Clark

The BBC is reporting the story HERE.

British summertime

A Forest colleague - who has just returned to her native California - emails to say that while she will miss "the excitement of living in the big city", she won't miss the "brutal London weather".

"London weather," she writes, "is unpredictable. I hate walking out of the house on a crisp, sunny morning in a light jumper and by afternoon everything's clouded over and I've been soaked by torrential rain. The grey skies really affect my mood. So it's not that I hate the rain, it's the fact that one day can be pleasantly warm and the next is a downpour.

"California," she adds, "is almost consistently mild and sunny, with a scattering of rain and slightly colder weather in the winter, though it does depend on geographical location, ie San Diego near the beach would be a few degrees colder than the Sacramento Valley where the surrounding mountains trap the hot air. 

"For a Californian, a string of sunny days broken up by a rainy one is a massive disappointment. Maybe that sums up my attitude to British weather, as every sunny day feels like a gift!"

By coincidence, her email arrived yesterday while my son was playing for his district cricket team (U13s). The game began in bright sunshine under a cloudless blue sky. It was baking hot. Ruari (my son) opened the batting and made 97. (He was was eventually caught at slip, three runs short of his maiden century.) The team went on to make 226-9 in 40 overs. Victory, it seemed, was in the bag.

Er, not quite. Between innings the ground was hit by torrential rain. Players and spectators ran for cover. After a delay the sun shone again, the wicket dried out, and the teams took the field. But not for long. Two short, sharp showers later, the match was abandoned.

British weather. Don't you just love it.

Run, rabbit, run!

My daughter has two rabbits, Ringo and Sadie (left). Earlier this week I was minding my own business when I heard - through an open door - a snuffling noise in the garden. I looked up from my newspapers and a small black mop with droopy ears popped into view. In its footsteps lolloped another ball of fur - this one soft and grey. Yes, Ringo and Sadie had burrowed out of their run and were making a slow yet heart-warming bid for freedom.

How long they would have survived if I hadn't spotted them is a matter of opinion. We'll never know. It took a while - and several circuits of the garden - before I was able to catch them (much to the amusement of my next door neighbour who offered me his Jack Russell to "round them up"), but catch them I eventually did.

Truth is, I've always had mixed feelings about keeping animals in cages. We currently have rabbits, guinea pigs and a hamster (our fifth in a row) and I have always bought the largest hutches/runs/cages available, but I still feel a bit guilty. I wish we had a large walled garden and the rabbits and guinea pigs could run free during the day and return to their hutches at night.

On the other hand, it's been pointed out to me that they all live a largely stress-free life. Food is never an issue and they are 99 per cent safe from predators. They never have to make life or death decisions because everything is done for them by their well-meaning if (occasionally) over-attentive guardians. 

Not a bad life, then. But does it remind you of anything?

Dates for your diary

Following Friday's jaunt to Manchester I can report that, for the first time ever, Forest will be hosting meetings at all three main party conferences. 

We start at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth by joining forces with Progressive Vision to discuss "How liberal are the Liberal Democrats?". 

In Manchester we will be advising Labour "How to win back the smokers' vote". 

And at the Conservative conference in Birmingham we are working with The Freedom Association to create a two-day mini-conference that will cover a whole range of subjects from taxation and climate change to lifestyle and civil liberties. 

Unlike our events in Bournemouth and Manchester, The Freedom Zone is outside the secure area so you don't need a conference pass. Entry is free and is open to all.

Watch THIS space for more details.

All in the name of health

I shall be in Manchester today looking at possible venues for an event at this year's Labour party conference (although, after last night's Glasgow East by-election result, I am beginning to think, "Why bother?").

While I'm away you might like to discuss a story that first appeared in the Manchester Evening News on Wednesday and has been picked up by the Independent HERE. It reveals that "radical proposals put forward by the Greater Manchester Health Commission include plans to cut off all funding to local theatres that stage a play which includes smoking in it despite such performances being protected by law".

My quote includes the following. "These are obscene proposals with elements of totalitarianism ... It shows just how extreme the anti-smoking lobby is becoming ... To only allow a world where no-one smokes at all would be artificial and there is only one word to describe it: censorship."

I have been sent a copy of "Tobacco, Health and Health Inequalities: A Manifesto for Action" and will comment further once I have read it.

Meanwhile, a second smoking-related story in many of today's papers reveals that "a self-employed painter and decorator has been given a £30 on-the-spot fine for smoking in his own van because it is classified as a workplace" (HERE). Over to you.

SOS - save our shops!

As regular readers know, I am not a fan of the No 10 website - or, to be specific, the gimmicky e-petition section. I have lost count of the number of petitions Forest has been asked to support and I have said no to nearly every one - partly because there are too many on the same subject (the smoking ban), and partly because I prefer not to play this government-inspired game. (The anti-hunting ban petition attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters and the government, predictably, ignored it.)

Another problem is that people love to do their own thing. This has led to scores of petitions - often signed by the same people - complaining about the smoking ban, with the result that few (if any) have attracted more than a handful of signatures and the impact has been minimal. (It's that sort of indiscipline that repeatedly hinders the pro-choice movement.)

Anyway, there is a new petition - concerning the government's proposal to ban the display of tobacco in shops - on the No 10 website, and for once I would like to encourage everyone to sign it. It reads:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reconsider his Government's proposal to ban the display of tobacco in shops, and consider ensuring instead stronger enforcement of the law to prevent underage sales and illicit trade and to make it illegal for adults to buy tobacco on behalf of anyone under 18."

There are a number of reasons why I think this petition is worth signing. One, I believe it's the only one on this subject that is currently live on the Downing Street website; two, the issue is currently the subject of a public consultation and if a significant number of people sign the petition individuals and organisations will be able to highlight the fact in their submissions; three, it's a very important issue because if the proposal to ban the sale of tobacco in shops becomes law it will not only affect smokers, it could have a devastating impact on small shops and community stores; four, the message it sends is that smoking is an adult activity and responsible smokers will support measures that discourage underage sales - but let's have some respect and consideration in return.

Last but not least, I happen to know the proposer. Ken Patel is a retailer from Leicester and I greatly admire the work that he and his colleagues are doing to lobby government. They deserve Forest's support - and the support of their customers.

So, please sign the petition today - and encourage similar-minded people to do so too. Click HERE. 

Conference call

This year's party conference season is going to be our busiest yet. It certainly seems that way because we have spent the past few days desperately trying to meet deadlines for venues, listings, advertisements and artwork. There's also the small matter of confirming speakers - which isn't easy when everyone is about to go on holiday. And now, for the first time, the police have asked us to answer questions about our events. If we can reach the end of the month without a major hiccup, I'll breathe a little easier.

The Freedom Zone (September 29-30) is a new initiative and our most ambitious conference event ever. Organised in conjunction with The Freedom Association, it's a two-day mini-conference designed to put individual freedom at the top of the political agenda. We're launching it at the Conservative conference in Birmingham but I hope that it will eventually make an appearance at other party conferences too.

We are also presenting (for the first time ever) a fringe event at the LibDem conference. This year's conference is in Bournemouth (my favourite seaside venue) and we are linking up with the new liberal think-tank Progressive Vision to host a discussion entitled "How liberal are the Liberal Democrats?" The event, at the prestigious Highcliff Hotel, is on Tuesday September 16. Details, including speakers, will be announced nearer the time. 

We are still working on plans for the Labour conference in Manchester, but - please note - we need volunteers to promote our campaigns at all three party conferences. If you would like to help please get in touch.

Forgetfulness is now a crime

Welsh Culture Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas (left) has resigned following a story that he flouted the smoking ban - which he supported - by smoking a cigar in a pub near the Welsh Assembly (see HERE).

Did Thomas deliberately break the law? Did he refuse to put out his cigar? No, what seems to have happened is that he absent-mindedly walked into Cardiff's Eli Jenkins pub with a lit cigar and when a member of staff pointed this out he apologised and went outside. (The BBC adds a touch of colour to the story by claiming he was "reprimanded" by staff.)

Some of you may argue that because Thomas supported the ban he deserves everything he gets. I don't agree. This is no time to feel smug. The fact is, the career of a senior politician is in ruins because - shock, horror - he walked into a pub with a lit cigar.

The prize for the most sanctimonious comment I have seen (so far) goes to Opposition leader and Welsh Conservative AM Nick Bourne who said Thomas' resignation was "regrettable" before adding, "However, the smoking ban was introduced in the interests of public health to protect people from the risk of smoking-related illnesses." Ugh! Pass the sickbag. (See HERE.)

The worrying thing is, this sounds just the sort of thing that David Cameron would say.

Note: to put this story in perspective, it is clear that Thomas was becoming "gaffe prone" in the eyes of the Welsh media, and even some of his colleagues. In other words, this incident was the straw that broke the camel's back. Nevertheless, wouldn't it have been nice if someone, Nick Bourne, for example, had stood up and said: "This was the most minor offence imaginable. No-one died, no-one got hurt, or was even likely to get hurt. The minister has apologised. Let that be an end to it."

But no. Political opportunism comes first and the most trivial "gaffes" are seized upon by journalists, broadcasters and political rivals who fall back on soundbites and unproven junk science to justify the rampant and deeply unpleasant wave of puritanism that is engulfing this country.

Comment is free

My latest post on the Telegraph's new Ways and Means blog can be found HERE. Readers of Taking Liberties will find the subject (Europe, tobacco, freedom of speech) familiar so feel free to add a comment. (Note: once registered, you can comment on any of the Telegraph blogs so it's worth taking a moment to do it.)