Forest in the House

On July 1st, the first anniversary of the public smoking ban in England, Philip Davies MP is hosting a reception for Forest in the House of Commons. This is an invitation only event to which we are inviting MPs and a small representative group of people for whom the legislation has had a major social or economic impact. (The group includes include smokers, tolerant non-smokers, pub and bar owners, to name a few.)

If you have a message for your MP (or MPs generally) concerning the smoking ban, please comment here or email me direct. We are particularly keen to register with MPs the negative impact the ban is having on many people's lives. Describe how the ban has affected you personally.

Also, what amendments to the current legislation would you like to see introduced following the review of the Health Act in 2010? Third, has the ban influenced you to cut down or quit smoking? Fourth, what do you think of the government for introducing a comprehensive ban (ignoring its manifesto commitment to exclude private clubs and pubs that don't serve food) and will it influence your vote at the next election?

We need your name and (optionally) your age and occupation. The best comments will be added to the document we are sending to MPs to mark the launch of our Amend The Smoking Ban campaign.

Have you RSVP'd yet?

We have a handful of tickets left for our Smoke-Free England? party at Boisdale on Tuesday (June 24).

The event marks the first anniversary of the smoking ban in England. We are holding it in advance of  July 1st to give journalists an opportunity to speak to a wide range of smokers from different backgrounds who are opposed to the ban and who believe there should be amendments to the legislation.

If you want to come and have not yet RSVP'd, don't delay. Email events@forestonline.org or telephone Georgina on 01223 270156 (office hours).

Invitation to Smoke-Free England?

The directors of Forest and Boisdale of Belgravia cordially invite readers of Taking Liberties to a party to mark the first anniversary of the public smoking ban in England.

The event - with cocktails, canapes, speeches and live jazz - takes place at Boisdale on Tuesday June 24 from 7.00pm.

Bring a friend but places are limited and by invitation only. RSVP Georgina at Forest (events@forestonline.org) with your full name and address and we will send you your FREE ticket/s.

Smokers (how can I put this?) are especially welcome! 

NiteNite, sleep tight

Next month Forest will reveal our plans for the 2008 party conferences. On Wednesday I was in Birmingham, which is hosting this year's Conservative conference. A couple of months ago we booked a fantastic venue close to the International Conference Centre and, this week, we booked our hotel.

Now, anyone who goes to party conferences will tell you that finding a good hotel at a decent price is a real pain. The better hotels are inevitably booked months if not years ahead, and the main conference hotels often insist that you book for the entire event (four nights) when you may only want a room for one or two days.

Anyway, thanks to Simon Richards of The Freedom Association - whose idea it was - we have block booked a number of rooms in a brand new city centre "hotel" which, on further investigation, is more akin to a social experiment (and we're the guinea pigs!).

NiteNite city hotels is an "evolving concept" catering to travellers who prefer wi-fi over scenic views (there aren't any) "and don't mind cramped quarters if that means saving money" (Wall Street Journal).

In Birmingham, NiteNite offers "windowless seven-square-metre rooms with mood lighting, 42-inch plasma-screen TVs and Egyptian cotton linens ... The windowless design allows NiteNite the possibility of building in unconventional sites, such as warehouses."

NiteNite is reviewed HERE in the Guardian.

Smoke-free England?

Lunch with Ranald Macdonald (left) at Boisdale. In six weeks Forest will return to Boisdale for a party to mark the first anniversary of the smoking ban. Expect guest speakers, live music and more. Details of the event, to be called Smoke-Free England?, will appear on the new Forest website next week.

History of smoking

This morning I spent an hour at Butlers Wharf in London, a stone's throw from Tower Bridge and City Hall, checking out boats for future Forest events. (Yes, boats. We like to explore every option.)

In the afternoon I had a meeting at the Museum of London (above) to discuss a forthcoming history of smoking exhibition.

The curator rang us a week ago to see if Forest had anything to contribute. I offered one of our "Fight the ban: fight for choice" ashtrays, a selection of Forest postcards, and some quotes from famous smokers. I also threw in a copy of the Forest/Boisdale CD You Can't Do That! (Songs For Swinging Smokers).

Yesterday I was shown a plan of the exhibition. It's an odd mix of things. There are illustrations, artefacts and health warnings (including an anti-smoking video). Photographer (and Forest supporter) Dan Donovan has contributed a handful of images, while another, less aesthetic, feature is a substantial collection of discarded cigarette butts - a consequence, as we know, of the indoor smoking ban.

The exhibition will be in the foyer of the museum for three months from July 1st.

Celebrating a nation of shopkeepers

On Thursday I was a guest at the Convenience Retail Awards in London, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tate & Lyle, Proctor & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline and Tates Spar, Aberystwyth.

It would be easy to mock an event like this, with its "celebrity" compere (Dermot Murnaghan), flashing lights, deafening rock music and cheesy stand-up comedian. (Actually, he was quite good.) As for the awards, it's hard to get excited about best battery merchandising, best chilled products display, best food-to-go offer, best soft drinks merchandising or best ambient grocery display.

Behind the glitz, however, is a picture of Britain that deserves a higher profile - thousands of men (and women!) working incredibly hard to build small, thriving businesses that provide an essential service to their local communities.

Making a success of any shop, large or small, town or village, is no easy task. I can't imagine the hours these guys work, year after year. They deserve their awards and the respect of their peers. But they also deserve wider recognition. Unfortunately, if you're not Stuart Rose or Philip Green few people are interested.

Britain, they used to say, is a nation of shopkeepers. It still is. We just don't hear about it very often.

Light up or leave the country

Today is No Smoking Day. This used to be a major event in the Forest calendar. We'd spend weeks devising a suitable response and preparing for the inevitable round of interviews. It still attracts interest (from the local media) but as a national event NSD is well past its sell-by date. After all, thanks to this government, every day is no smoking day. What makes NSD any different?

Anyway, when I first joined Forest we were under pressure to come up with an angle that would interest journalists and broadcasters. I suggested that for one day only we should leave the country - literally - to the anti-smoking brigade. How much more fun it would be, I reasoned, if we spent No Smoking Day in what was then the European capital of smoking - Paris.

The plan was simple enough. A small group of Forest supporters and staff (led by my colleague Juliette Torres) would travel to France by Eurostar. Arriving in Paris they would be met by our French counterparts who would host a lunch in their honour at a restaurant that was used by the Resistance during the war. All the while they would conduct interviews with the British (and French) media until it was time to come home.

At first, everything went according to plan. In those days you could still smoke on Eurostar so while I stayed behind in London, handling media enquiries, Juliette was broadcasting live to the nation from the smoking coach as the train swept through Kent and, later, northern France. After the group rendezvoused with our French partners at Garde du Norde, there were more interviews from the restaurant and a photo call opposite the Eiffel Tower.

What we didn't take into account was the fact that the group - whose ages varied from mid twenties to mid seventies - was never going to maintain the same pace or be attracted to the same places or drink the same amount of alcohol. As a result, when it was time to go home, a number of tired and emotional travellers missed the train and the return journey was more Dunkirk than Waterloo.

Sadly (but not surprisingly) our jaunt was largely ignored by the British press, apart from a few news-in-brief style reports. Nevertheless one journalist did join us for the entire journey. Bob Shields of the Daily Record came all the way from Glasgow (with a photographer) and his exclusive feature (a double-page spread) is still one of my all time favourite Forest reads. (You couldn't make it up.)

If we tried the same stunt today we would have to travel a little further afield. According to our information, the European capital of smoking is currently Budapest or Prague. Next year, perhaps?

Walk this way

I shall be popping along to the House of Commons at lunchtime to observe the lobby of Parliament being organised by the I Want A Referendum campaign. We're looking at the possibility of a similar event on July 1, the first anniversary of the smoking ban in England. If we go ahead we will need the active support of everyone who is opposed to the current legislation. It is no longer enough to be a laptop activist. It's time to speak with your feet.

Thought crime night - coming soon!

If you've never heard of  The Manifesto Club, read on ...

Next week the club is hosting a free speech event in London. "Thought Crime Night" invites supporters of free speech to discuss the state of artistic freedom in Britain today. Speakers including political blogger Paul Staines (aka Guido Fawkes); novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru; rap artist Aki Nawaz; and Brendan O'Neill, editor of the online magazine spiked. The evening will also feature readings by Tim Black, staff writer for spiked, from literature that has been banned over the past century.

The Manifesto Club's "Thought Crime Night" is on Tuesday February 26. Venue: Corbet Place Bar, 15 Hanbury St, London E1 6QR. Doors open at 7.00pm. The event begins at 8.00 and the bar is open until 11.00. It's free to members; non-members pay £5 on the door, but everyone is welcome. Full details HERE.

Note: Tim Black has written THIS article for The Free Society blog. Comments welcome.

Double whammy for smokers?

The Treasury announced yesterday that the Budget will take place on Wednesday March 12 at 12.30pm. I don't want to worry you, but that's the same date as No Smoking Day. No doubt the Chancellor will be expected to pull a rabbit out of the hat for our rabid anti-smoking friends. I can't believe that any politician - knowing the impact it has on smuggling - would be stupid enough to raise tobacco taxation above the rate of inflation, but you never know.

Then again, he could choose to abolish VAT on nicotine replacement products. I don't have a problem with that, even though the main beneficiaries would be the anti-smoking industry pharmaceutical companies. At least it would address the original purpose of No Smoking Day which was to help those who wish to quit.

Today No Smoking Day is indistinguishable from any other anti-smoking campaign. It's just another part of the denormalisation process, another act in the anti-tobacco circus. A little more respect for those who choose to smoke and don't want to quit wouldn't go amiss. But I'm not holding my breath.

Open to debate

Commenting on THIS post, Struggling Spirit suggests that "big questions" don't seem to be asked by politicians any more. "Where have the big ethical debates gone?" he asks.

It's true that many politicians seem more interested in micro management, telling us how to live our lives with a million petty rules and regulations, but he's wrong to think that big ethical debates no longer exist. The problem is, they tend not to take place within parliament or the mainstream media which prefers news and soundbites.

One of the best examples of intelligent debate is the annual Battle of Ideas which is organised by the Institute of Ideas, a close relative of the online magazine Spiked! . The IoI and Spiked! emerged some years ago from the wreckage of LM (formerly Living Marxism) magazine.

Claire Fox, director of the IoI, is a good friend of mine. A regular panellist on Radio 4's The Moral Maze (another forum for ethical debate), she has chaired or spoken at numerous Forest events. I hope to persuade her to write a regular column for The Free Society website. She, in turn, is trying to persuade Forest/The Free Society to sponsor an event at this year's Battle of Ideas (1-2 November). Negotiations, as they say, continue.

Freedom talks

On Thursday I nipped up to Birmingham to meet Simon Richards, director of the Freedom Association. Birmingham is to host this year's Conservative party conference and Simon and I are exploring some form of joint initiative. He has found what promises to be an excellent venue and I am excited that as well as speaker meetings and debates, there is scope to be even more ambitious. Our exact plans are under wraps but expect more details in the spring. Ditto our events at the Labour conference in Manchester and the LibDem conference in Bournemouth.

The next generation

I have just accepted an invitation to address the Oxford Hayek Society. The OHS is a libertarian society at Oxford University, committed to the advancement of individual liberty. I'm delighted to do it because part of our long-term strategy is to develop links with student groups with a view to influencing the next generation.

Another reason is that the late Lord Harris (former chairman of Forest and the inspiration for The Free Society) was himself a disciple of Hayek. According to Ralph's obituary in The Times (see HERE):

A frank apologist for free markets, Harris was among a group of post-war economists inspired by Friedrich Hayek who, at a time when it was deeply unfashionable, opposed the legacy of government planning left by John Maynard Keynes and proposed an unbound capitalist society.

This will be my first speaking engagement at Oxford since February 2005 when I joined forces with Forest patron Antony Worrall Thompson to oppose the motion that "This House would ban smoking in all public places". Proposing the motion, at the Oxford Union, was Professor Sir Charles George, president of the British Medical Association, and Lord Faulkner of Worcester.

Sadly the result was a win for the ayes, 118 - 82. Ironically, a few months earlier the Union had been forced to reverse a self-imposed smoking ban because they were losing so much money as students deserted the Union bar in favour of the local pubs!

Booker's prize party

Twenty-four hours after the event I'm still feeling the effects of last night's Forest party. Over 150 guests turned up, and many were still there come midnight. Wine flowed and Boisdale MD Ranald Macdonald was as generous as ever with whisky and cigars.

Christopher Booker and Richard North, co-authors of Scared To Death: From BSE To Global Warming, travelled from Somerset and Yorkshire to sign copies of the book which quickly sold out.

Christopher gave a short speech - to cheers and applause - and proposed a toast, at which point everyone raised their glasses and cheered (again). The message was clear: people are sick and tired of having their freedoms restricted by politicians and campaigners, especially when it involves scaremongering and the consistent abuse of science and statistics.

Guests came in all shapes and sizes. Politicians rubbed shoulders with journalists, lobbyists, publishers and publicists. In one corner Christopher Chope MP, in another UKIP leader (and MEP) Nigel Farage. Madsen Pirie and Eamonn Butler (founders of the influential Adam Smith Institute) were there. So too Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance, and many more. Others, like the very senior "captain of industry" - a famous face in the City - who was attending in a personal capacity, shall remain nameless!

The real star, however, was Boisdale's new smoker-friendly roof terrace which got rave reviews (it was hotter than the Caribbean) and was packed throughout. Warmly (!) recommended.

For more photos, click HERE.