A day to remember

I didn't expect to be moved by the sight of a statue, but - surprisingly - I was. On Thursday I travelled up to Edinburgh for the unveiling of a magnificent monument to the Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith, who lived and died in the city.

To mark the occasion, the Adam Smith Institute had decided to host a series of events (organiser: Brian Monteith). On Thursday evening, therefore, we assembled in The Caves, a collection of dark, atmospheric vaults under the ancient Cowgate, for a debate featuring former Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth, former Labour Energy minister Brian Wilson, Alex Neil MSP, and the ASI's Dr Madsen Pirie.

Yesterday's programme included lunch at the City Chambers and a gala dinner in the University of Edinburgh's neo-classical Playfair Library Hall. By chance I found myself on table 2 with Madsen on one side and R Emmett Tyrrell, founder and editor-in-chief of the American Spectator (and one of two guest speakers), on the other.

Bob (or "Mr Tyrrell" as I felt obliged to call him) lives and works in Washington. Other guests on table 2 had come from California and New Orleans. The evening flew by and I was one of the last to leave, with my new American friends, shortly before midnight.

Highlight of the two days was of course the unveiling of the 10ft bronze statue in the High Street (aka the Royal Mile) opposite the Exchange Buildings (now the City Chambers) where Smith worked. Commissioned by the ASI, designed by Scotland's leading monumental sculptor Alexander Stoddart, and funded entirely by private subscription, it cost £250,000.

Today, standing on a huge stone plinth emblazoned with the words ‘ADAM SMITH’, the statue is a magnificent addition to the Royal Mile. I'm just delighted I was there to see it.

PS. The Scottish edition of today’s Daily Telegraph has a large picture of the statue on page 9 and I'm in it (at the back). At last, something I can show my grandchildren (should I ever have any)!

Update on Saturday, July 5, 2008 by Simon Clark

The unveiling is reported by, among others, The Times and the Scotsman. Photo above courtesy Madsen Pirie.

Freedom fighter

Rob Lyons, deputy editor of Spiked and a guest at our party at Boisdale, has marked the first anniversary of the smoking ban in England with another excellent article. "It’s built on anti-pub prejudice, junk science and petty authoritarianism," says Rob. "So one year on, why do so few people see the ban as a blow to our freedom?" Full article HERE.

Cigarettes and civil liberties

A short video of the Forest reception at the House of Commons can be viewed HERE on Friction TV.

Journalist Pat Nurse has written a report of the event for The Free Society blog HERE.

Statue of economic liberty

How funny. As I write (it's 5.20pm) there are 37 comments on Kerry McCarthy's blog re the smoking ban (see below) - with more to come, I'm sure. (To put this in perspective, most of her posts appear to attract no comments at all. Zero. Zilch.)

Interestingly, this has been achieved not from a grand office in London but by yours truly tapping away on my laptop in the lobby of the Apex International Hotel in Edinburgh.

Why Edinburgh? Well, I'm here for the grand unveiling, tomorrow, of a statue of Adam Smith. It's taken several years for the idea to reach this stage, but it promises to be quite an occasion. As far as I know, people are coming from all over the world to mark the event.

The programme, organised by the Adam Smith Institute, begins tonight with a reception and debate ("This House would prefer to be led by the Invisible Hand") chaired by BBC Scotland's political editor Brian Taylor.

Proposing the motion are my old boss Michael Forsyth (former Scottish Secretary, now Lord Forsyth of Drumlean) and Dr Madsen Pirie (ASI). Opposing the motion are Brian Wilson (former Labour Energy minister) and Alex Neil MSP (Scottish National Party).

The Adam Smith statue will be unveiled (in the High Street, near Parliament Square) tomorrow by Nobel economist Professor Vernon Lomax Smith. In the evening there is a gala Adam Smith dinner to look forward to.

Now, where did I put my Adam Smith cufflinks and tie?

A Labour MP writes

Kerry McCarthy (left) is the Labour MP for Bristol East. Writing on her blog on Tuesday, she says: "My recent post about the success of the smoking ban mentioned a reception by Forest, the pro-smoking group at a private members club in Belgravia. And today they're having a champagne tea party for MPs in the Commons. Kind of bears out what Libby Brooks is saying in today's Guardian."

Leaving aside the fact that Boisdale is NOT a private members' club (it's a public bar and restaurant), how chippy can you get? (Has she never heard of champagne socialists?!)

Anyway, two days earlier, she wrote:

Since the smoking ban was introduced, there has been a record rise in the number of people giving up smoking. The figures for April to December 2007 (only 9 months) were up 22% on the previous year. 80% of people think the ban is a good thing. And fears that more people would smoke at home instead haven't been realised. There is also good news about people with lung conditions now being able to socialise without harming their health, and a predicted fall in the number of heart attacks (as happened in Scotland after they introduced their ban). As someone who voted for the full ban, this makes me feel good.

Kerry doesn't seem to get many comments on her blog. Perhaps you'd like to change that. Click HERE.

Boring but important: please do NOT insult her or write anything that could be construed as personally offensive. It is vital that when we engage with MPs we do so forcefully but politely. This is a battle of ideas and we want to make MPs think - not alienate or bully them. Stick to facts, and your own personal experience of the ban and the war on smokers.

Update on Thursday, July 3, 2008 by Simon Clark

Kerry McCarthy writes: "Forgive me for being somewhat sceptical of the fact that four comments arrived in very quick succession opposing the smoking ban. And from people who have never posted comments before. Would it be cynical of me to suggest that Forest might somehow be involved?"

13.09 Kerry has promised to reply later in the day "once the comments have stopped coming in". So keep those comments coming in. Click HERE.

14.31 Brilliant post on KM's blog from "Frankie". (In case anyone's in any doubt, it's a spoof!) Frankie, you've made my afternoon.

16.11 Uh-oh. Lots of good points and then some idiot mentions Hitler. (Not a Forest supporter, I hope.) This sort of language has no place in the smoking debate. Talk about an own goal.

23.25 There are now 85 responses - Kerry's blog has never had it so good! Remember, keep the language reasonable, please.

Smoking, food and sex

So, on the hottest day of the year so far, we found ourselves in a small wood-panelled dining room on the lower ground floor of the House of Commons. Dining Room B can hold 45 people (at a squeeze) and having invited 40 guests (plus MPs) I was concerned that everyone might get a little hot (and bothered).

I needn't have worried - it was fine. Our guests (a representative group of smokers, non-smokers, pub and bar owners) included Trevor Baylis (inventor of the clockwork radio and a former Pipesmoker of the Year), journalist (and smoker) Pat Nurse (who wrote THIS marvellous article on The Free Society blog), Ranald Macdonald (MD of Boisdale) Sean Spillane (who runs a working men' club in Luton), Paul Keenan (fined only this week for allowing people to smoke in his live music venue in Braintree, Essex), Nick Hogan (ditto, in his former pub in Bolton), and Ana Knight, whose small London bar was forced to close as a direct result of the smoking ban.

Exceeding our expectations, 17 MPs and five peers turned up. Of the MPs, there were eleven Conservatives, five Labour, and one LibDem. Views ranged from those strongly opposed to the smoking ban to those broadly in favour. (Greg Clark, Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, told me that constituents often come up and congratulate him for voting for the ban. Hmmm.)

Our host, Philip Davies, gave a short, well-received speech. I announced the launch of our new Amend The Smoking Ban campaign. And Trevor Baylis told a joke involving smoking and sex. A short video of the event will appear on Friction TV in the next few days.

PS. The food - sandwiches, iced cakes, pastries, scones and strawberries - looked delicious. Unfortunately, apart from a few strawberries, I was too busy to even think of food, let alone eat it. Next time, perhaps.

Update on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 by Simon Clark

Ranald Macdonald hurried to the House straight from filming a short interview for Newsnight, which was broadcast last night. The report, about the impact of the smoking ban, also featured an interview with Suzy Dean of The Manifesto Club. Suzy is featured on the video of last week's Forest party at Boisdale. (She's the first person we see talking.) If you haven't seen it yet, click HERE.

Tea for twelve?

This afternoon Philip Davies MP will host, on behalf of Forest, a small reception tea party in the House of Commons. (Sandwiches, cakes, scones, cream and, er, champagne.) A dozen MPs have indicated that they will pop in. If they all come I shall be very pleased - it's been quite a struggle - and they will each be rewarded with a complimentary cigar (a Montecristo No 2).

We have also invited a handful of guests - a representative group of smokers, non-smokers, pub and bar owners - for whom the ban has had an enormous social and financial impact.

Every MP in the House will receive a pack containing THIS press release and the following documents: Economic Impact of the Public Smoking Ban and Social Impact of the Public Smoking Ban. The latter, as you will see, features comments from many people on this blog (as promised a couple of weeks ago).

Thanks for your help - and your support.

Update on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 by Simon Clark

We exceeded expectations. Including our host Philip Davies, 17 MPs turned up, plus five peers. Report to follow.

A touch of class

Libby Brooks, deputy comment editor of the Guardian, has THIS to say about Forest, smoking, and class in today's paper. Discuss.

Update on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 by Simon Clark

See what ASH (and Forest) has to say: politics.co.uk has a feature on the smoking ban, one year on, HERE.

Forest - the movie

When I wrote "Final word on the Forest party" (below), what I meant was ... oh, never mind. Click HERE and watch the video on Friction TV.

PS. An earlier Forest video, recorded at our Revolt In Style dinner at The Savoy last summer, has been viewed 18,172 times. It features Antony Worrall Thompson, among others, and you can view it HERE.

Pound stretches the truth

Stephen Pound MP used to be a supporter of Forest. Today, writing in the Independent, he explains (not for the first time) "why I threw away my cigarettes the day after voting for the ban". He did the same the day after the vote (in February 2006) when he appeared on the Today programme to announce his sudden flip-flop conversion.

Pound's "moment of epiphany" was apparently the result of listening to Deborah Arnott of ASH ("calm and realistic") and Dr Richard Taylor, "the independent MP for the Wyre Forest, who was scarily scientific in his description of the foul chemical-sodden composition of what I had thought was sun-dried organic Virginia tobacco".

Ignoring the evidence on passive smoking (which a House of Lords committee subsequently confirmed did NOT justify a comprehensive ban), Pound chose to conclude that "while I had a right to kill myself slowly I had no such right to visit a long, lingering and agonising death on those around me".

Politicians are busy people and it is understandable if, on occasion, they take their cue from one or two so-called "experts". When, however, you are about to vote on an issue that could have serious social and economic consequences for millions of people, surely you do a bit more research?

Politicians. Don't you just love 'em. Full article HERE.

Rio de Janeiro? I'll eat my hat!

Final word on the Boisdale party. Late in the evening, after most of the guests had left, I was accosted by an absurdly flirtatious woman who asked me if I'd like to go to Rio de Janeiro. (Would I like to go to Rio de Janeiro? Is the Pope Catholic?)

I won't bore you with the details (they were sketchy, to say the least) but I think I heard the words "conference" and "tobacco". Now, I don't know if this was a wind up, but if I find myself on a plane bound for Brazil later this year I shall (a) be thrilled, and (b) eat my hat. Watch this space.

Update on Sunday, June 29, 2008 by Simon Clark

And finally, Madsen Pirie has posted a short piece about the party on his Another Food Blog HERE.

Demon Barber puts the knife in

I was quite excited when I heard that Lynn Barber was coming to the Forest party last week. Lynn Barber! Not only is she one of the most famous journalists of the last 20 years (her interviews are legendary), she's also a smoker. And she's on friendly terms with David Hockney, and since he was coming too (and the party went so well, or so I thought) I was convinced we were set for a favourable review.

As it happens I've been in public relations long enough never to count my chickens. But even I was disappointed to read Barber's piece in today's Observer. (The title alone sets alarm bells ringing: 'This party's such a drag'.) Disappointed, but not surprised. After all, one of my favourite articles is Toby Young's 'My interview from hell' in which he wrote:

The question of why anyone agrees to be profiled by Lynn Barber is a curious one. After all, her last collection of interviews was called Demon Barber so it's not as if she makes any secret of her intentions. The hatchet job is her stock-in-trade, yet for some reason there is never any shortage of willing subjects.

According to Young:

"Recent casualties include Boy George, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Winston, Jerry Hall, Gyles Brandreth, Alan Sugar, Terence Conran, Julian Fellowes and Clare Short, to name but a few".

That was in 2006. I'm sure there have been a few more "casualties" since, and I'm equally sure that Forest won't be the last.

Lynn Barber's Forest/Boisdale article is HERE but the last word should go to Toby Young:

"I did my best to keep my cool. I counted to ten. I tried to picture her naked. But it was no good. Words came tumbling out of my mouth in a torrent of rage. At one point, I even noticed a fleck of spit landing on her taperecorder. I was fucked."

It's still David Davis for me

I had to laugh when I saw the list of candidates (all 26 of them!) for the Haltemprice and Howden by-election. The full list is:

Grace Christine Astley - Independent
David Laurence Bishop - Church of the Militant Elvis Party
Ronnie Carroll - Make Politicians History
Mad Cow-Girl - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
David Craig - Independent
Herbert Winford Crossman - Independent
Tess Culnane - National Front Britain for the British
Thomas Faithful Darwood - Independent
David Michael Davis - Conservative
Tony Farnon - Independent
Eamonn "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick - Independent
Christopher Mark Foren - Independent
Gemma Dawn Garrett - Miss Great Britain Party
George Hargreaves - Christian Party
Hamish Howitt - Freedom4Choice
David Icke - No party listed
John Nicholson - Independent
Shan Oakes - Green Party
David Pinder - The New Party
Joanne Robinson - English Democrats: Putting England First
Jill Saward - Independent
Norman Scarth - Independent
Walter Edward Sweeney - Independent
Christopher John Talbot - Socialist Equality Party
John Randle Upex - Independent
Greg Wood - Independent

Somewhere in there you may have spotted Hamish Howitt, the anti-smoking ban candidate. Now, as readers know, I sympathise with Hamish's position and - to date - Forest has been happy to give him a platform for his views. (Last year we invited him to speak at a reception at the Conservative party conference in Blackpool. This week we gave him the microphone so he could address guests at our Smoke-Free England? party in London, and we have also invited him to our reception at the House of Commons on Tuesday.)

Unfortunately, standing for parliament alongside David Icke, Mad Cow-Girl and the Church of the Militant Elvis Party threatens the very serious message that Hamish is trying to get across.

David Davis can rise above this circus because, until now, he has been in the driving seat and has set the agenda. That said, Donal Blaney has a very interesting take on the DD campaign HERE which, I think, is spot on. There is a real danger that all these candidates, allied to a lacklustre Davis campaign, could result in a small turnout and the sense that people really aren't that bothered about civil rights. That would be a disaster, not only for Davis, but for everyone who believes that civil rights (including smokers' rights) are worth fighting for.

For that reason, my vote (if I had one) would still go to David Davis. In the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, DD is the only civil rights campaigner who is going to win. He's lukewarm on the smoking issue (and doesn't want to embrace the subject as part of his manifesto), but - looking at the bigger picture - that doesn't matter. What matters - if we want civil liberties to remain high up the political agenda and more embarrassment to be heaped on the Labour government - is that David Davis wins on a good turnout, with an increased majority, and a larger percentage of the vote.

If Hamish wants my advice, it's this: throughout the campaign he must stick to DD like glue. Wherever Davis goes, Hamish must shadow him - not to upstage or verbally attack him (there must be no talk of "giving Davis a bloody nose") but to engage, support and expand upon DD's civil rights manifesto (see HERE).

In short, Hamish has got to play this straight. No hyperbole, no outrageous claims (eg "I believe we've got a good chance of beating David Davis", as Nick Hogan, his campaign manager, is reported to have said), just a simple, honest, down-to-earth message that smokers' rights matter because, if we ignore smaller breaches of our civil rights, politicians will be encouraged to introduce bigger breaches such as unrestricted surveillance cameras, 42-day detention without charge, and worse.

PS. You can read David Davis's campaign blog HERE.

Down and out in Henley

Further to the Henley by-election result, I take no pleasure in pointing out that UKIP trailed in last - behind Labour, who came fifth. I do so merely to emphasise what I have argued before - that voting for UKIP is not going to help amend the smoking ban. (I'll re-phrase that. It might if ten million people voted for UKIP but that's not going to happen.)

In politics you have to work with the system as it is, not how you want it to be. The only way we can persuade government to introduce amendments (yes, amendments) to the smoking ban is to concentrate our efforts on lobbying those in power or likely to be in power in the foreseeable future.

I should add that, having had a chat with the immensely likeable UKIP leader Nigel Farage (above left) at the Forest bash on Tuesday (where he gave a short but impressive speech), I have even more respect for him than before - but I still wouldn't vote for his party in a non-European election because single issue parties don't win elections. And yes, I know that UKIP isn't a single issue party, but try telling the vast majority of the British electorate. As far as they're concerned, UKIP is interested in one thing and one thing only - getting Britain out of the EU.

Someone (I think it was Brian Monteith) later reminded me that Nigel tried to change the party's name from UKIP to the Independence Party but without success. I don't know why it hasn't happened (perhaps someone can tell me) but if UKIP is to have any chance of picking up seats in a general election (without proportional representation) a name change and a drastic re-branding is absolutely vital. And even that is grasping at straws.

PS. A few years ago a friend of mine (a disillusioned Conservative) registered the name "Enterprise Party". The project, such as it was, never got off the ground, but I still think it's a great name and concept for a political party. One day, perhaps.

Another kick in the teeth for Labour

Result of yesterday's Henley by-election: John Howell (Conservative) 19,796; Stephen Kearney (Lib Dems) 9,680; Mark Stevenson (Green) 1,321; Timothy Rait (BNP) 1,243; Richard McKenzie (Labour) 1,066; Chris Adams (UKIP) 843.

Although Henley is a safe Tory seat, coming fifth behind the BNP is a disaster for Labour and Gordon Brown in particular. There has been a sea-change in British politics over the past nine months (ever since the PM bottled calling a general election) and nothing, it seems, can keep Labour in power after the next election.