Friend of the earth?

In the last six months I have seriously considered buying a 4x4, a patio heater and a plasma TV.     
Now I am told that all three are symbols of "environmentally destructive consumerism".
Help!

Faking it - Parliament deceived, say MPs

Just fancy that! Hardly had the words "prostitution of science" appeared on this blog (see below) than a press release landed in my inbox. A report produced jointly by the All Party Parliamentary Middle Way Group and the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management (and published this morning) claims there is no valid scientific evidence to justify the hunting ban.

The report, The Use, Misuse and Abuse of Science in support of the Hunting Act 2004, argues that government, the media and the public have all been "duped by fake and twisted science". According to the press release:

This document provides the first opportunity to scrutinise the reports, submissions and statements made by anti-hunting groups, some scientists and others during the process which led to the passing of the Hunting Act 2004. It shows that the “large body of scientific evidence”, a claim made by the RSPCA, simply does not exist.

Dr Lewis Thomas for the VAWM, which represents over 550 veterinary surgeons, says, "This carefully compiled document comprehensively puts the scientific record straight in respect of the hunting debate and demonstrates that there are not and never were any scientific grounds for banning hunting on the grounds of cruelty.”

The co-chairs of the Middle Way Group (Baroness Golding - Labour, Peter Luff MP - Conservative, and Lembit Öpik MP - Liberal Democrat) - say, "Parliament does not make judgements based purely on science, but science can guide and inform those who create our laws. To invent, deliberately misinterpret or ignore evidence, the results of which are then fed into the legislative process, is a serious charge. This examination of the so-called science put forward to justify the Hunting Act, demonstrates that Parliament, the media and the public were deceived."

Sound familar?

ITV defends Liz McDonald's illicit fag

Hours after it was announced that all Disney-branded films will be smoke-free and the company will actively "discourage depictions" of cigarette smoking in films made by Miramax and Touchstone (which it owns), ITV has responded in robust fashion to a complaint (not from me!) that Coronation Street's Liz McDonald was filmed smoking in the loo at the Rovers' Return. An email that has come into our possession reads:

I’m sorry to read that seeing one of our players smoking has caused you concern. Successful drama such as Coronation Street depends on realistic characterization and there must be moments when inappropriate things are said or done.  If no one ever demonstrates human frailty or ignorance it is impossible to identify with them. 

Our responsibility as programme makers is to ensure that where they behave unreasonably or incorrectly their actions are not seen to be promoted. In this instance we took great care to be accurate and under the STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 2007 No. 76 of the PUBLIC HEALTH ACT, ENGLAND - The Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007, Section 6 of the act refers to performers:

“Where the artistic integrity of a performance makes it appropriate for a person who is taking part in that performance to smoke, the part of the premises in which that person performs is not smoke-free in relation to that person during his performance”.

Once again thank you for your e-mail and I hope that this incident does not spoil your continued enjoyment of Coronation Street.

Fox attacks "prostitution of science"

Claire Fox (left), director of the Institute of Ideas, former publisher of Living Marxism, and a regular speaker at Forest events (including our recent Savoy dinner), has launched a fierce attack on the smoking ban on Friction TV:

"Smoking is a private habit, yet it has been turned into a massive public issue. The government try and emotionally blackmail me by telling me that my habits seriously affect others. This is a prostitution of science. This is an attack on a free society and the government should butt out of my life."

Click HERE for the full two-minute video.

Launched in March, Friction TV attracted 250,000 unique visitors in its first three months and is said to be outpacing YouTube. Forest has two videos on the site. The first, with 11,309 plays, is still one of the most watched; the second, recorded at The Savoy, has been played 5,804 times since it was uploaded on June 26. Click HERE and HERE.

Testing times for drivers who smoke

Interviewed on Dublin 98FM last night, I was asked to comment on a story in which an Irish smoker (Charles) was refused his driving test because the examiner didn't care for the smell of tobacco smoke in Charles's car. Note: there is no question that he was smoking in the car while the examiner was present. What is in dispute is when he last lit up in the car. Charles claimed it was eleven hours previously, the examiner believed it to be shortly before the test.

Only in Ireland, you might think. But no. I have just checked and according to the Driving Standards Agency here in the UK:

From 1 July 2007 smoking in vehicles used as workplaces will be banned in England. Although the legislation will only apply to instructors’ vehicles candidates for test need to be aware that if you bring your own vehicle to test it is DSA policy to provide a smoke free working environment for all staff. The examiner may therefore refuse to conduct the test if the vehicle contains tobacco smoke.

Note: it doesn't say "smell of tobacco smoke" but that won't stop the more fastidious examiner. Expect similar stories in the UK within the year.

Welcome to Todd's world

Dinner with my old friend Todd Buchholz. We first met, in Washington DC, in 1983. I was there as a guest of the Young America's Foundation and as an up-and-coming "young American" Todd was given the job of looking after us. Today, according to the Penguin website:

Todd G. Buchholz is an internationally acclaimed economist who advises ABC News, as well as some of the world's leading investment funds. He has served as a director of economic policy at the White House and is a contributing editor for Worth magazine. Buchholz holds advanced degrees from Cambridge University and Harvard Law School and was awarded the Allyn Young Teaching Prize by Harvard University's Department of Economics.

There's more. A best-selling author, Todd's books have been published in dozens of languages and, earlier this year, his first novel was published. He has guest hosted several television programmes in America and, intriguingly, is credited as co-producer of Jersey Boys, the smash hit Broadway musical which opens in the West End in February 2008. (When I ask him about this it turns out he's an investor. It's his first flutter in this particular minefield and, true to form, the show's success is making him another small fortune.)

Hopefully, he'll be back in London for the West End premiere which coincides with the UK publication of his new book, New Ideas from Dead CEOs. A special Free Society event may be in order ...

Smokers - get a life!

Lunch with Jayne and Tavy, the PR people behind SmokersLife, the new "lifestyle portal" for Britain's 12 million smokers. 

Phase one was launched on July 1st. It includes links to "vintage" videos plus (limited) information about the best post-ban venues for social smokers. Phase two - the core business - will feature an online dating service plus access to smoker-friendly insurance packages.

Described as a "support system as well as a dating service", SmokersLife is reported to be seeking £250,000 in return for equity in the company. "This will be used to market the business to smokers in the UK, France and Germany enabling the company to develop projected sales of over £90 million by the end of Year 5."

I'll keep you posted.

All light up in protest

Late breakfast with Mark St John at the Troubadour, "the last 50s coffee house in Earls Court". Mark is manager of The Pretty Things whose protest song, 'All Light Up', featured on this blog and the Forest website when it was released last month.

'All Light Up' is part of a broader offensive in defence of civil liberties. Phil May, founder and lead singer of the band, came to our Revolt In Style dinner at The Savoy and we are currently discussing ways we can work together to highlight opposition to the smoking ban and other Big Government initiatives.

Top of our list is some form of protest at the Labour conference in Bournemouth in September. We know what we want to do - it's just a question of whether we can sort out the logistics. Watch this space.

You couldn't make it up!

Just published in HR Director magazine:

Stress affects one in five of the working population and is the single biggest cause of sickness absence in the UK. With that in mind, employers need to be even more vigilant about stress levels in the workplace now that staff may be feeling the effects of the smoking ban.

To help employers empower their staff to combat stress, BUPA Wellness has come up with a list of stress symptoms to look out for. It has also created a list of top 10 mini work break ideas to help smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers stay cool, calm, and collected with customers and colleagues.

• Create a brain-teaser board with your team and test your brain power with a crossword/letters game/spot the difference
• Walk over to a colleague's desk rather than talking to them over the phone or via email
• Offer to make colleagues a cup of tea/coffee
• Combat muscle tension by setting up a stretch group
• Have a power nap!
• Practice some deep breathing exercises
• Take the stairs rather than an escalator/lift to the floor you need
• Take a water break – ensure you are drinking enough throughout the day to help avoid headaches through dehydration.
• Have some relaxing music ready on your iPod to listen to during a short break
• Have a laugh! 

Full article HERE. 

Bushell on the blog

Email from Garry Bushell. "Hello Simon. Just FYI, I've been championing the 'right to smoke' as a freedom of choice issue on my talkSPORT radio show as well as my websites and rock podcast. PS," he adds, "Boris isn’t the only pro-freedom candidate for London Mayor. I’m standing for the English Democrats."

Garry and I go back years. He was the Sun's larger-than-life TV critic when I interviewed him for a magazine I was editing. In person I found him to be very different from the brash, outspoken character that appears in print. There was a diffidence about him that was quite endearing. I was delighted when he agreed to contribute the occasional column for a fraction of his usual rate.

His career has taken several twists and turns since then but, say what you like about him, Garry Bushell remains a top-notch journalist with a great turn of phrase. Here's what he had to say about the smoking ban on July 1st:

The smoking ban kicks in today. Is it a blessing for public health, or another infringement of our civil liberties? The fag end of the wedge … I don’t smoke, but I don’t mind the company of smokers – I like to cough. But what concerns me about this ban is that it’s undemocratic, it removes freedom of choice and it’s based on misinformation: it’s all passive smoke and mirrors.

There is no medical proof that secondary smoking causes cancer. None at all. There has been massive research in this area and time after time the same result comes back: there is no scientific evidence. Smoking damages the smoker’s health, full stop. This hasn’t stopped the Nanny State. You’ll get fined £50 for lighting up in a pub, while the landlord could cop a £2,500 for letting you. Cigar smokers can’t even enjoy a nice puff in a private cigar smoking club. This is at a time when ganja is decriminalised. Next we’ll have the fat police confiscating pork pies at the supermarket check-outs.

What would Churchill say? Or Strummer, Lennon, Einstein, Sinatra, Sartre, Orwell, Johnny Cash, Oscar Wilde, Bill Hicks or any of the other famous, brilliant and creative smokers? Yes, pubs and clubs will smell differently. Your clothes won’t reek of smoke the morning after. You won’t have to eat in a restaurant with some inconsiderate git puffing away over your mutton madras. But from today we are less free. We have less choice. We’re more controlled. Baaaa. Baaa. Baaaa.

For more of Bushell on his blog, click HERE.

Sign of the times

I have been asked about the 'nanny state' logo (left). It has been designed by Forest supporter Dan Donovan. A range of merchandise, including 5,000 lapel badges, will be distributed at this year's party conferences. 'Nanny state' items will also be available via the Free Society website when it is launched in September. Watch this space.

Cameron's Conservatives need new direction

It doesn't take a genius to recognise that the Conservatives (or, should I say, David Cameron's Conservatives) are in trouble.

It was never going to be easy, overcoming a reduced but substantial Labour majority, and those of us who know a little bit about the Tory party have known for years that a fundamental problem is the lack of grassroots activists.

We may be living in the internet age, but you still need people to knock on doors, push leaflets through letterboxes, and generally get the message across on a local level. And that's where the Tories lose out. There simply aren't enough people sufficiently motivated to help out.

Meanwhile Cameron's Blair-lite strategy appears to have hit the rocks. The idea of mimicking 'nanny' Blair - one of the longest-serving PM's in British history - may have seemed a good idea at the time, but the chickens are coming home to roost.

In my view, if he wants to defeat Gordon Brown, Cameron has got to get to grips with the nanny state and nail his colours firmly to the mast. He has got to promote less not more government as a central plank of Conservative policy. He has got to give people a real choice at the next election - are you for or against Big Government? - and spell out what that means in practice.

On Sunday 30th September, at the Conservative party conference in Blackpool, The Free Society - supported by Forest and the new Free Spirits group - will host a reception at the Hilton Hotel. We're calling it 'Nanny State? No Thanks' and we will use the event to drive home one of three messages that are central to our post-smoking ban strategy.

To demonstrate our impartiality (and the importance of targetting both of the major parties), The Free Society roadshow will also make an appearance at the Labour conference in Bournemouth where we are hosting a similar event at the Royal Bath Hotel on Tuesday 25th September. Details in due course.

Harry Potter and the nanny state

Last night, like many parents, I found myself standing outside my local branch of WH Smith. It was 12.15am. Luckily it had stopped raining and we only had to queue for 30 minutes to collect two pre-ordered copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, one for my son (12), the other for my daughter (10), who were with me.

Several people walked past shouting "Harry Potter dies!", another yelled "I can't read, I'm illiterate", and someone pointed at my daughter and declared (with some justification) "You should be in bed!", but it was mostly good-humoured. (Yes, some people had had too much to drink, but not enough to justify Liam Donaldson's crusade against binge-drinkers.)

Earlier in the week we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Based on the fifth book in the series, it's rather good. (I speak as someone who fell asleep during the first two films.) If you haven't seen it, it's worth it if only for Imelda Staunton's performance as Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Interviewing Staunton for the Telegraph, Tim Auld writes:

More than any of the previous books, in this one Rowling does manage to make direct connections between her fantasy world and our own nanny-state age. Staunton's performance, in which, tight-mouthed, apple-cheeked and clad in pink, she smiles sweetly as she makes dull ministerial announcements, or burns detention lines into the hands of miscreant pupils, reminded me of nothing so much as a certain vintage of female Blairite politicians - Hazel Blears, Margaret Hodge et al - whose dedication to the righteousness of their leader's cause has etched a permanent smug grin upon their faces.

Staunton herself is quoted as saying:

'The whole thing about the children not being allowed to use spells - just read about them - the whole bloody health-and-safety aspect of our world today, which is so terrible for children, you know, "Don't touch it, don't move it, don't have any experience because I'm telling you what to think." It's just yuck.'

Sadly, that's as far as Staunton - and probably Rowling - will go. But it was nice to laugh - along with hundreds of other people - as yet another 'Thou Shalt Not' sign was nailed to the wall at Hogwart's. For once (it could be argued), the silent majority was making itself heard. Is anyone listening?

Fat's life - CMO targets food and drink

Our old friend Sir Liam Donaldson (left) is in the news - again. Interviewed in today's Telegraph ('Fat binge drinkers beware. You're next') the Chief Medical Officer says he will "strongly recommend" tax increases on wine, beer and spirits. "Tobacco is a good example of a health problem that is in hand, but when we turn to obesity and alcohol misuse those are not yet anywhere under control."

Calling for a review of the 24-hour licensing laws, Donaldson suggests that drinks companies should be banned from sponsoring sporting and other events. "It's something that worked with tobacco. I would say that there's fruitful things to be looked at in that territory."

Years ago I gave a speech to the Adam Smith Institute's Independent Seminar on the Open Society, the theme of which was 'Today tobacco, tomorrow food and drink'. In those days no-one was really listening. Now that 'tomorrow' is today, perhaps more people will finally wake up to what is happening.

The CMO is said to be appalled that "some very unreliable science" (concerning a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism) could create such alarm among the general public. That's good, because it means he knows how some of us feel about the impact of some equally unreliable science on smoking in public places. If he doesn't, I shall be writing to let him know. I suggest others do too.

Full interview HERE.

More government? Just say no!

More good news. Tucked away inside the Telegraph are three short paragraphs that mean a lot to those of us who want to reduce the burden of government on people's lives: "John Prescott's vision of a new tier of local government was in ruins yesterday when Gordon Brown dumped his regional assemblies project. Plans for eight regional assemblies were floated in Labour's 1997 manifesto but hit the buffers in 2004 when a referendum on whether to establish a first assembly in the North East was rejected by 78 per cent of voters."

Of course, this doesn't reduce the layers of government, it merely removes (for the moment) the threat of further expansion. But it offers hope for the future. Perhaps the message is sinking in at the highest level. Many of us do not want extra layers of government. More government means more politicians running around like headless chickens looking for things to do to justify their existence.

That is one of the reasons why I am against an English parliament, which some people believe will restore political equilibrium between England and the rest of the (devolved) UK. I (and many other people) want less not more government. An English parliament? More politicians?!! Just say no.