Polite notice

Another reason for our trip to the seaside (below) was a meeting with Dorset Police. In addition to the Forest/Free Society reception, we are considering some form of public protest during the Labour party conference. A march, perhaps, or (more likely) a static protest against the smoking ban outside the conference centre in Bournemouth - if there is sufficient support.

Security is particularly tight at party conferences and with everyone being a little jumpy it's best to do things by the book. Our meeting on Thursday lasted an hour during which we were given a very clear indication of what we can and can't do.

One of our proposals - a live rock band outside the conference centre or on a passing float - was politely knocked back. So too was my preferred march route. Dorset Police have a set route and woe betide anyone who veers off that path!

A detailed five-page document entitled 'Guidance to organisers' left us in no doubt of our responsibilities. Sections include 'Statements of intent', 'Briefing of stewards',  'Fitness of stewards', 'Communication with organisers', 'Communication with police', 'Safety officers', 'Additional guidance' and 'Debriefing'.

Before going ahead with a public protest we first have to submit plans for the police to consider. Proposed date is Tuesday September 25th, the same day that Gordon Brown is due to give his first speech to conference as prime minister and leader of the Labour party. If you are interested in taking part, email protest@forestonline.org.

Sun, sand and smokers' rights

On Thursday I spent the day in Bournemouth. The sun shone, it was pleasantly hot, a light sea breeze blew in off the Channel, the beach was busy (but not over-crowded), and in the hotels and bars the Pimms was flowing. (I know, because we ordered a jug or two.)

The principal purpose of the visit was to discuss arrangements for the Forest/Free Society reception at the Labour conference in September. Organising a party conference event that stands out is very difficult. Competition is fierce - there can be upwards of 20 other events on at the same time. Free food and drink (especially champagne) helps, but there's more to it than that.

Forest has a pretty good record in this area but this year's challenge is tough. How can we attract our core audience - those who want to smoke - when they can't light up indoors? I think we may have cracked it but we are waiting for the hotel to agree to the idea. Fingers crossed.

Date for your diary

If you're in Bournemouth during the Labour party conference, join us for a reception at the Royal Bath Hotel on Tuesday September 25. It's free and it's outside the secure area so you don't need a conference pass.

Paul's protest moves to Glastonbury

Following a well-publicised protest in Wells, Somerset, karaoke owner Paul Toole is organising a similar event in Glastonbury on Saturday August 11. The march coincides with the Glastonbury Extravaganza (August 10-12) so it promises to be well worth the effort. More details HERE.

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.

Walk this way

On Saturday I linked to THIS report. Paul Toole, one of the two men at the centre of the story, subsequently got in touch to tell us that he is organising a "protest walk" in Wells, Somerset, this Saturday, July 14th. 

"We will all meet at Penniless Porch, Cathedral Green, Wells, at 12 midday, and will continue down the High Street, ending at The Sherston Inn, Glastonbury Road. Please come and support us, if not in opposition to the ban but for freedom of choice!!"

To demonstrate our support we have donated 75 Forest t-shirts featuring our 'Fight the ban: fight for choice' logo. For more information call Paul on 01749 672747 or 07722852224.

Update on Friday, July 13, 2007 by Simon Clark

Spoke to Paul again this morning. He has never done anything like this before and is rather nervous! The walk, he says, will take about 30 minutes. Estimated number of walkers vary from 70 to 200. En route Paul will address Saturday shoppers via his own professional sound system and there will also be some stirring music - Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance was mentioned! If you live anywhere near Wells, please support this initiative.

Update on Sunday, July 15, 2007 by Simon Clark

Paul's business partner Chris Elliot told the BBC that some 40 people took part in the walk. Report HERE.

Illuminating Blackpool

I am currently in Blackpool, sussing out venues for a Forest/Free Society event at the 2007 Conservative party conference. (Next week I will be in Bournemouth, doing the same for this year's Labour conference.) We arrived last night - fresh from sunny Cambridgeshire - to be greeted by rain, wind and brown choppy waves crashing on the beach.

Last year, at the Tory conference in Bournemouth, we hosted a speakeasy-themed prohibition party that attracted 400 people with hotel staff having to turn others away for reasons of "health and safety". By all accounts it was the best fringe event of the year. According to the Financial Times:

In addition to tobacco smoke, the air was thick with warnings about further restrictions on drinking and eating. Guests swilled down champagne and Kalashnikov vodka and guzzled "politically incorrect canapes" - not for those with high cholesterol. 

Ranald Macdonald, founder of the Boisdale restaurants where cigar smoking is encouraged, declared his opposition to the ban - and was promptly arrested by three improbable-looking policemen. But there are still battles to be won if the Tories are really to be the party of liberty, according to Forest, the pro-smoking campaign that co-sponsored the evening."

So, a hard act to follow. The major problem this year is finding a venue that is 'smoker-friendly' - and legal. In practice this means finding a room in a prime conference location that offers direct access to a smoking area. It's not perfect but we think we've found one. Sadly - given the limitations of budget and location  - the scale of the event will be very much smaller than last year's production, so we will try to be even more inventive. Watch this space.

Liddle at large

Interesting postscript to Revolt In Style by Rod Liddle in The Times. Author, journalist and broadcaster, Rod was on my table, alongside Antony Worrall Thompson, Trevor Baylis and Ibrahim El-Noor, so I can't imagine where he got this idea that we were all rabid right-wingers. Perhaps it was Antony telling the government to "fuck off", or perhaps I goaded him by carelessly asking if he is still a "lefty" over a post-dinner drink.

Extremely good company, Rod was one of the last to leave The Savoy on Monday night (around 1.30am). Famously combustible, he was last heard arguing with a hotel flunkey about the quickest and shortest way to leave the building. Click HERE to read the full article.

Revolt In Style - match report

I promised to report back on Monday's night party but the Telegraph has done it for me - see HERE. There's not a lot more to add, but here are some highlights:

We were joined by 400 guests, some of whom travelled from as far afield as Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow, the North East (of England), Cornwall and even Holland. Guests included 12 MPs (all Tories) and eight (or was it nine?) peers. I can't confirm they were all present and correct - you'll just have to take my word for it. There simply wasn't time, either to speak to everyone personally, or ask guests to sign a register.

The media turned out in force, camera crews jostling for position and for interviewees. There were TV crews from Germany, France, Greece and Japan, which created quite a buzz. Domestically, ITV sent a crew to record interviews for Tonight With Trevor McDonald. Radio 4's long-running consumer programme You and Yours did likewise. But the big excitement (for me) was the appearance of Stephanie Flanders, former advisor to the US Treasury and now the economics correspondent on Newsnight, recording interviews to be broadcast on (I think) Friday June 29th, BBC2.

Journalists included Sue Carroll (Daily Mirror), Rod Liddle (Sunday Times and Spectator), Peter McKay (Daily Mail), John Walsh (Independent) and Adam Edwards (Daily Telegraph). The hospitality industry was represented by Paul Waterston (Scottish Licensed Trade Association) and Nick Bish (Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers). Other guests included Sue Brealey (co-author, The Joy of Smoking), Phil May (The Pretty Things), and inventor Trevor Baylis (former Pipesmoker of the Year). Some people booked whole tables, among them cigar importers Hunters & Frankau and the Institute of Ideas.

Antony Worrall Thompson, Claire Fox and Andrew Neil all gave excellent speeches - well received by a lively and appreciative audience who roared their approval every time anyone criticised the government! I compered - sort of - and read out messages from some of those unable to attend, including Lord Tebbit, Joe Jackson, Oscar-winning playwright Ronald Harwood, artist Maggi Hambling ("From now on it's even more important to smoke"), and screenwriter Alan Plater.

The lyrics to Plater's song 'I'm Going Outside', featured on the Forest/Boisdale CD You Can't Do That!, were printed on the reverse of the menu. After the speeches, the song was performed live by the Boisdale Blue Rhythm Band. Hitherto the band had played, in the background, the perfect music to match the boisterous mood.

Last but not least, the 'formal' part of the evening finished with a stirring live performance of the Monty Python classic, 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life'. Until that point (11.00pm) hardly a single unit of alcohol had passed my lips. I shall draw a veil over later events.

Update on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 by Simon Clark

Sue Carroll, a guest on Monday, has written an excellent piece in the Mirror HERE, quoting Andrew Neil and Claire Fox. As a result of that, Sue is appearing on BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze tonight at 8.00pm. Also on the programme is regular panellist - Claire Fox!

Wozza leads the resistance

Antony Worrall Thompson was an absolute star all evening. Wozza - Forest's patron since 2001 - isn't just a name on a letterhead. For years he has taken the time and the trouble, often at short notice, to do numerous interviews on our behalf.

Monday night at The Savoy was no different. He arrived early and was immediately at a centre of a media scrum. Before dinner he must have given at least a dozen interviews to journalists and broadcasters including programmes such as Newsnight, Tonight With Trevor McDonald and You and Yours. (The latter was broadcast yesterday. Go HERE and under 'Listen Again' click on Tuesday edition. Antony is featured 37 minutes into the hour-long programme.)

He also featured in yesterday's (London) Evening Standard which reported that:

If New Labour has found the resistance to its hunting ban formidable there was an indication last night that it can expect more of the same from its ban on smoking in public places. Chef Antony Worrall Thompson led the resistance.

"This is about control. The control freakery of this fucking government. Do you ever go into a town centre and cause trouble because of the effects of a cigarette? How long before they ban alcohol in pubs? What about obesity? How long before they ban food in restaurants? I'm not going to put up the No Smoking signs in my restaurants."

The Spy column in today's Daily Telegraph repeats Wozza's "control freakery" comment. It also quotes him saying: "There are loads of 85 and 90-year-olds who have smoked all their life who didn't get cancer - and I think it'll be proved in due course that it's all genetic." The fightback starts here!

Never give up!

Still recovering from last night. The last guests left The Savoy at 2.00am and I crawled back to my hotel an hour later. Edited highlights will appear here after I've had several cups of strong black coffee and caught up with a mountain of phone calls. Tomorrow we hope to publish pictures of the event on the Forest website. In the meantime here's a taster that sums up the mood of the evening.

Yours, in haste ...

This is the only opportunity I shall get to post today. Having arrived in London last night - heavily laden with Forest ashtrays, Forest beermats and 400 Forest CDs to be given away tonight - I woke up to the news that BBC Online has given Revolt In Style a good plug (see HERE). The event was also mentioned on GMTV.

There are 400 guests attending tonight's event (double our original estimate) and people are still trying to book, although the event was sold out last week. Menus have still to be printed and 500 nanny state badges have gone missing, but apart from that everything is going OK.

I won't tempt fate by naming any guests (in case they don't show) but I can tell you there will be TV crews from Russia, Germany, France, Greece and Japan. Radio 4's You and Yours will be present, interviewing the likes of Antony Worrall Thompson. So too will Granada TV, filming for Tonight With Trevor McDonald.

The full Forest press release, including some great message of support, is HERE.

Forest sells out (no, not like that!)

Revolt In Style: A Freedom Dinner is now sold out. From nought to 400 guests in four weeks is pretty good going. Now the hard work really starts - selling the event to the media. See HERE - and watch this space!

Message in a battle

Seven days to our Revolt In Style dinner at The Savoy Hotel in London. Four weeks ago I was advised by almost everyone - including our partners Boisdale - not to go ahead because the risk of booking the Lancaster ballroom (the largest available room in the hotel) and selling only a handful of tickets was too great.

Now, with a week to go, we have almost 350 guests and only a handful of tickets remain. Guests include MPs, peers and smoker-friendly journalists from several national newspapers. At least two TV film crews will be present; so too the Internet broadcaster 18 Doughty Street. More will undoubtedly commit nearer the day.

I've read some of the comments on this blog. I will restrict myself to saying that, like it or not, media and public relations play a vital role in modern political campaigning. The Savoy dinner is part of this process. Some of you may think the event expensive and self-indulgent but how many MPs, peers or journalists would have attended an alternative event down the Dog and Duck?

To get a broad cross section of people to attend, including opinion formers, you have to make an event as attractive as possible and - for maximum effect - do it on as grand a scale as possible. Forest is renowned for events that are great fun yet convey a serious message. It is one of many reasons why we have such a high media profile (in relation to our size).

The event itself is just the tip of the iceberg. What you see is a dinner for 300+ but below the surface an enormous amount of political lobbying is taking place. Irrespective of any media coverage we might (or might not) get, by this time next week our target audiences (politicians, journalists and broadcasters) will know all about the dinner and - more important - the messages that accompany it because, behind the scenes, we have a small team hard at work on letters, flyers and news releases.

As I say, there are a few tickets left. To book telephone 01223 370156 (office hours) as soon as possible.

Dinner on Drive

Five Live Drive has just reported a Press Association story that "Antony Worrall Thompson is to host a freedom dinner". "July 1st will be a sad day. Supporting smokers is worth doing," Antony is quoted as saying.

ITV.com reports the story HERE. Guests - including MPs, journalists and peers - now number 266.