ASH, the DH, and £191,000
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Last week the Sunday Telegraph published THIS letter in which I highlighted the ways in which the Department of Health had manufactured the results of its own consultation on future tobacco controls.
In passing I mentioned that ASH had been given £191k by the DH "for its Beyond Smoking Kills report". In this week's paper (21 December) Peter Kellner, president of the opinion polling organisation YouGov and chairman of the editorial board that produced the report, took issue with my letter. Among other things, he wrote:
In his effort to disparage Action on Smoking and Health’s report Beyond Smoking Kills, Simon Clark makes some errors. Mr Clark says that the report was funded by the Department of Health. The report was actually funded by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
If I read this correctly, Kellner is saying that ASH didn't receive money from the DH for its Beyond Smoking Kills report. Fair enough. But let's look at the evidence:
(1) On Thursday 16 October 2008 Conservative MP Nicholas Soames received from health minister Dawn Primarolo the following answer to a written question:
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) received funding from the Department [of Health] in the current financial year in accordance with the 'Section 64 General Scheme of Grants to voluntary and Community Organisations'. ASH has received this grant specifically to carry out a defined project entitled "Capitalising on Smokefree: the way forward".
(2) In its notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2008 ASH lists a project called "Beyond Smoking Kills - the next steps", thoughtfully adding:
This project provides an information base and communications to support further progress on tobacco control policy and smoking cessation following on from the White Paper "Smoking Kills". The Department of Health made a Section 64 grant of £191,000 to this project.
I may be wrong, but I suspect that "Capitalising on Smokefree: the way forward" is the same project as "Beyond Smoking Kills - the next steps". Not that it matters: the note in the financial statements (2) is pretty clear.
Given this evidence, does Peter Kellner still believe that ASH didn't receive money from the DH for its Beyond Smoking Kills report? I think we should be told.
Reader Comments (3)
This is just typical, more smoke and mirrors with words, but in this case it appears to be with titles.
It doesent matter which govt lackey or goon is spouting lies, in this instance it happens to be Peter Kellner the report producer and pres of the opinion poll for Yougov. Who better placed for a bit of card shuffeling.
Thats the way you do it nowadays. You get a grant and the red for danger and questions could be asked folder comes out.
So Dr Spin, Peter Kellner, in this case says to himself now just in case some smart ass journalist starts asking awkward questions in the future about the money source, I'll give this grant two headings. I'll call the first one Beyond Smoking Kills and I'll call the second one Capitalising on Smokefree, thus giving himself the opportunity to be able to say with all impunity and with a straight face and knowing his ass has been covered - "In his effort to disparage" etc.
Nu labour their lackeys and spin doctors are doing nothing more than fostering a culture where honor, integrity and scruples are now just for fools.
But their time will come when they will be answerable, hopefully at next elections. And I hope that call me Dave and his cohorts will take note and that 'lessons will be learned going forward'.
It realy is the Gov. paying for ASH to terrorise everyone, it is sick.
Great post Simon. Thanks. I came to this from the freedom2choose site.