Broadcast news
Sunday, November 16, 2008 Earlier this week I was due to be interviewed by BBC1's The Politics Show. Subject: the government's plans for future tobacco controls including a ban on the display of tobacco in shops.
On Tuesday one of the producers rang to cancel the interview. Instead, they were going to interview shadow health spokesmen Mike Penning (Conservative) and Norman Lamb (Lib Dem) who I was told are critical of the government's proposals re point of sale etc. (This was news to me.)
"I'm sure you'll agree that it is much stronger to have the Forest arguments made by elected politicians, and hope you'll forgive me when I say that there just isn't room in the film for all of you to appear."
Hmmm. One problem with this arrangement is that The Politics Show could end up with a report that reflects the views of the political establishment and ignores the views of the consumer and the small retailer (the two groups who will be most affected by the government's proposals).
If, however, the Tories and Lib Dems really are opposed to a ban on tobacco display and other measures, that can only be good news. We'll see. The Politics Show is on BBC1 at midday today.
Simon Clark
The Telegraph picked up the story - which was released by the BBC in advance of today's programme - HERE. To be fair, "Tories to oppose tobacco restrictions" is bigger news than "Smokers lobby group opposes tobacco restrictions". Let's hope they (and the Lib Dems) oppose the government's proposals with genuine conviction and not just for party political gain. Or am I being hopelessly naive?
Simon Clark
Interestingly, although both the Telegraph and the Express covered the story (crediting The Politics Show as the source of the Lamb/Penning comments), it has yet to appear on the BBC news website. Why would they keep quiet about their own "scoop"?
Reader Comments (6)
This is what really incenses me.
I’ve just been watching the item about future tobacco control on the Politics Show, and the general tenure of the piece was to be in favour of the Governments policy. There was the sound effect of someone coughing, (to let you know that smoking is bad for you), and you also had to listen to the self-righteous Patricia Hewitt.
I thought this butt head was no longer health secretary. However her patronising tones left little doubt, that what was needed were further harsh measures. She told us that small children had to be protected from “nicotine addiction”.
There was no balance to this piece at all. You also saw people in the street, wearing fluorescent yellow jackets with the words ‘stop smoking’ written on the back asking passers by if they smoked, and would they like to stop.
They wouldn’t let you be interviewed Simon, because you might have made some awkward comments about the ability to choose…without the nanny state intervening.
"I'm sure you'll agree that it is much stronger to have the Forest arguments made by elected politicians, and hope you'll forgive me when I say that there just isn't room in the film for all of you to appear."
Don't be stupid...Forest arguments...are guess what...best made by Forest representatives - that's what Simon Clark gets paid for!
BBC(Biased Broadcasting Corporation)
But what did Mike Penning and Norman Lamb have to say, Chris? The Telegraph reports that Penning said:
"There’s no evidence that that will actually stop people smoking and there’s a lot of evidence that it will actually destroy local corner shops and newsagents that are already suffering now. It’s a legal product – why are we pushing it under the counter? It’s not the answer to the problem."
Did he not actually say that? Was the Telegraph wrong?
'In January 2008, it was announced that Hewitt had been appointed "special consultant" to the world's largest chemists, Alliance Boots.'
She had a vested interest in Big Pharma and NRT.
A whistleblower informed Ms Hewitt about baby 'P' some time ago and nothing appears to have been done. When navy personal were captured off Iraq, Hewitt was more concerned about a captured woman smoking, than their capture.
This cold, heartless woman must go.
Ms Hewitt must rank as the most incompetant British minister in recent history. It sums up the staggering arrogance of New Labour that they put up this ex-minister, who has more than a vested interest in the sales of NRT products through her association with Alliance-Boots. Mind you, sheer incompetence and stupidity was never an impediment for climbing the greasy, ministerial pole that is or was New Labour.
I watched the report, too, and the Conservative and LibDem MPs did speak out against the proposals. In fact, I thought that it was quite a balanced piece - it even mentioned that evidence in support of the proposals is inconclusive (cue Patsy saying that she didn't think that the Government should wait for more research [after all, why let evidence get in the way of propaganda] and that Government had a responsibility to encourage people to give up). The report ended with doubt cast on whether the proposals would end up being voted through (are they beginning to get the message that people have had enough?).