Show of hands offers (a little) encouragement
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Last night's meeting hosted by CAMRA and the All Party Parliamentary Save The Pub Group at the House of Commons (see yesterday) was dominated, inevitably, by issues such as the beer tie, minimum pricing, beer duty, planning permission etc etc.
Thanks however to my colleague Karen McTigue - who was there to represent Forest and the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign - and freelance journalist John Porter, the meeting did, albeit briefly, address the smoking ban.
As I mentioned yesterday, questions from the audience (which included publicans, members of CAMRA and other campaigners) had to be submitted in advance and no-one was allowed to speak from the floor. Consequently the meeting was in its final stages when chairman Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem MP for Leeds North West) finally announced: "And we have two questions on the smoking ban, one from John Porter of A Pie and A Pint and one from Karen McTigue, representing Forest”.
According to Karen's report:
JP’s question asked the panel what they thought of public health minister Gillian Merron's recent statement that the smoking ban is not responsible for any pub closures.
Forest’s question was: "Given the negative impact of the smoking ban on many pubs, especially those without an outdoor facility, would members of the panel support an amendment to the legislation that would give landlords the option of offering their customers a separate, well-ventilated smoking room so that those who wish to smoke can do so in comfort, indoors?"
After reading out the questions GM then threw it open with “Is anyone prepared to put their head over the parapet on this one?” Much laughter ensued, and eventually Tobias Ellwood (Conservative MP for Bournemouth East) said that it was “naive of anyone to think that the smoking ban did not have an impact on pubs”. He noted that the consequences of the ban were not properly thought out. He thought the way in which the ban was issued dealt a “hammer blow” to the trade and the effects of the ban along with the recession created a “double whammy which has definitely hurt the pub trade”.
Don Foster (Liberal Democrat MP for Bath) said that, for all this, if a free vote was held again he would still vote the same way (ie for the total smoking ban). He did however say that it would be “crazy” to impose a doorway ban, but he thinks it was an important step in improving the health of the nation to introduce the smoking ban.
GM then asked for a show of hands to see how many agreed with DF and just 10 or so hands went up in favour of rescinding the ban entirely.
GM then rephrased the question to ask how many would support an “amendment” to the ban (ie by introducing separate smoking rooms). This time about 40-50 hands went up.
GM then turned to licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour MP for Bradford South) to ask what the government’s current position is. GS replied that the industry and the government needs to find more "creative ways of dealing with the issue" and called for a proportionate response. He said quite clearly that if a landlord has provided an outdoor garden for smokers then he "sees no problem with that, and will support them" and that there should be no extensions of the smoking ban into doorways. CAMRA’s Mike Benner did not comment.
The Morning Advertiser's report of last night's meeting has no mention of the smoking ban, or the above exchange, so we have to accept that the ban is not uppermost in the minds of most landlords, but it remains a serious issue for a substantial minority - and our job, through the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign, is to give those proprietors (and their customers) a voice.
To support the campaign click HERE and invite friends and family to do so too.
Simon Clark
The Publican reports that:
On the smoking ban, a vote was taken in the room on who wanted to see the legislation overturned. Only a handful wanted this. However at least half the room voted for the idea of having a separate room for smoking in pubs.
Full story HERE.
Simon Clark
CAMRA reports on the event HERE. No mention of the questions about the smoking ban or the fact that half the people in the room, according to our own witness and The Publican, voted in favour of separate smoking rooms following Forest's question to the panel.
CAMRA say they "look forward to hosting similar events in the future". Hmmm, if we're going to get the smoking ban back on the political agenda, I think we'll have to organise one of our own.
Reader Comments (1)
The Publican reports from the meeting, "Senior MPs from across the political divide, including a government minister – stood united last night in calling for the beer tie issue to be sent to the Competition Commission “immediately”.
It is alleged, and for the sake of complete clarity it is not on public record that Labour threatened the Pubcos at the time the smoking ban was being debated with being referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) if they did not support the smoking ban. The Pubcos then objected to private members clubs being exempt. If true Hewitt and Sutcliffe are extremely shrewd political operators.
Five years later it seems they are being referred to the MMC.
We are back at Churchill's crocodile analogy.