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ne milton about smokefree legislation i have been asked to reply in preparing the smokefree legislation the government of the time considered the possible economic impact on pubs and the hospitality trade of taking action on secondhand smoke a regulatory impact assessment ria was published alongside the healtj bill the ria contains estimates of cost and benefits of legislation to end smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces a copy is available on the department of health website at www dh gov uk closures in the pub industry and general hospitality sector were covered at the time of parliament s consideration of the legislation in 2005 2006 and the regulatory impact assessment published at that time includes the following statement paragraph 323 on page 10 final sentence given the evidence from other countries as well as in england the department of health understands that it is likely to be prevailing economic structural and cultural issues rather than the introduction of smoke free legilation which will be primary cause of any significant decline in the sector the government believes that people should have the choice to smoke but that it is also right that people are both made aware of the major health risks of smoking and are provided with support to quit therefore by increasing the information available about the dangers of smoking and providing support to individuals who want to stop the government can hope to reduce smoking by helping people make the choice or not to start or to give up at the same time it is right that others should be protected from exposure to harzardous secondhand tobacco smoke the smokefree legislation eliminates smoking in virtually every enclosed public place and workplace in this country there is a clear evidence that the smokefree legislation is working very well and almost all enclosed workspaces and public places are free from secondhand smoke many families are now voluntarily making their homes smokefree reducing children s exposure to secondhand smoke public support for the smokefree law is high and continues to grow even a majority of smokers now support the law because of this ministers see no reason to review it i should also point out that the smokefree provisions in the health act 2006 were carried on free votes across all parties by large majorities in both houses of parliament this parliamentary support for smokefree legislation reflected the very widespread public support smoking is the largest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in the uk it kills over 100 000 people every year and a recent academic study suggests that the cost to the british taxpayer is more than 5 billion a year it causes 84 per cent of deaths from lung cancer and 83 per cent of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease including bronchitis medical and scientific evidence also shows that exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of serious medical conditions such as lung cancer heart disease asthma attacks childhood respiratory disease sudden infant death syndrome and reduced lung function i realise that this reply is likely to be disappointing but i hope it clarifies the department s position on the matter yours sincerely customer service centre now i m not naive enough to have expected any other reply but it is interesting that rather than address the issue of pub closures that have occurred since the smoking ban the dh continues to quote from the regulatory impact assessment that was carried out in advance of the smoking ban despite the very clear evidence that the number of pub closures has increased enormously in the period since the ban i m not going to fisk the dh s letter line by line because i can t be bothered but one line does annoy me parliamentary support for smokefree legislation reflected the very widespread public support i don t need to tell readers of this blog that this is simply not true it may reflect opinion polls commissioned by ash that offered people a straight choice between smoking or smokefree without the option of for example separate smoking rooms but it certainly doesn t reflect the surveys carried out by the government s own office for national statistics that consistently found that a substantial majority approximately 70 per cent were opposed to a comprehensive ban of course public opinion has changed a bit as non smokers and even some smokers have got used to smokefree pubs and clubs but not as much as the tobacco control lobby would have as believe on a more positive note the response from the dh may be disappointing if unsurprising but the tone of the letter is well neutral and that is a significant improvement on previous years others too have commented upon the fact that under labour letters from the dh were cool if not downright hostile sure public health minister anne milton and ash s deborah arnott are birds of a feather but until we hear more about the coalition government s tobacco control strategy it s not all doom and gloom our understanding is that unlike the previous regime the new government is at least listening even if they spout the same old mantra so my message is keep writing to the dh and the relevant ministers more important if you haven t already done so is to write to your local mp by and large organised letter writing campaigns don t work they re easy to spot and mps will usually ignore them a letter from an individual constituent that s different feel free to recycle the statistics in my letter to anne milton but the letter should be in your own words and no more than two sides of a4 you can also send them a copy of our smoking gun report let me know if you get a response simon clark 12 comments share article wednesday jan 12 2011 europe the bigger picture wednesday january 12 2011 further to peter thurgood s article about spain whatever happened to my spain published here john mallon has posted a piece on the forest eireann blog catering for smokers how the rest of europe compares comments welcome btw we used to call paris the european capital of smoking the title then transferred to prague any further suggestions i have heard that the bars in budapest are so smoky that even smokers well those that live in britain find them a little er fuggy simon clark 8 comments share article tuesday jan 11 2011 smoking bans and the spanish inquisition tuesday january 11 2011 do bans make people smoke less asked the irish times on saturday rare for an irish newspaper to discuss the smoking ban and rarer still to see comments from opponents of the ban in any irish publication features a quote from john mallon spokesman for forest eireann the article was prompted by the recent smoking ban in spain as it happens we have in our midst an unrepentant smoker who has been working in the spanish tourism industry for a number of years i knew about the proposed ban last year writes peter thurgood but to be perfectly honest i never thought it would really happen i feel so let down i will never again recommend spain as a holiday destination to anyone until they overturn it peter feels so strongly he has written a 1500 word article for the free society click here see also smoke free it s a spanish imposition daily mail spanish bars flout the ban time and spanish smokers struggle with new ban daily telegraph simon clark 20 comments share article monday jan 10 2011 ciu joins save our pubs clubs campaign monday january 10 2011 further to rumours and reports i am delighted to confirm that the working men s clubs institute union ciu has agreed to join the save our pubs clubs campaign together with forest the ciu will lobby mps to change the law to allow separate smoking rooms in private members clubs forest will of course continue to fight for smoking rooms in pubs as well the ciu s national executive agreed to the proposal last month following our extremely productive meeting with general secretary mick mcglasham in november specific initiatives will be announced shortly in the meantime i have accepted an invitation to address the ciu s annual general meeting in blackpool in april greg knight mp a leading supporter of the save our pubs clubs campaign will also attend the conference dinner to demonstrate his support for working mens clubs the ciu describes itself as the largest non profit making social entertainment and leisure organisation in the uk representing the interests and views of four million club members above yours truly with mick mcglasham general secretary ciu and geoff whewell chairman west midlands branch following a forest free society event at the conservative party conference in birmingham last year below publicans from east anglia demonstrate their support at the launch of the save our pubs clubs campaign in london in june 2009 simon clark 14 comments share article monday jan 10 2011 postscript to passive smoking and the price of propaganda monday january 10 2011 a couple of months ago i published a poignant email from june a 57 year old mother of two who had devoted many years to bringing up her two children june has smoked since her teens but now her daughter doesn t want june s grandchild in a house where someone had been smoking i disguised some of the details because june not her real name was worried that her knowledge of her email might rip my family apart the basic story however was unaltered june had mixed feelings about christmas she was looking forward to having her daughter her son in law and her grandchild to stay for the first time in years but the prospect of having to stand outside in the cold every time she wanted a cigarette was less appealing eventually it was agreed that june could smoke in an upstairs room as long as the door was shut i don t know how i m going to pull this off with my sense of outrage running high wrote june in november and still be a welcoming hostess to our guests i was curious to know what happened so on saturday i emailed her and last night she replied as follows christmas didn t go exactly to schedule as we received a phone call christmas morning to say that my daughter her husband and child couldn t join us as planned my grandson was suffering a mild case of flu and was too poorly my daughter her husband and child joined us on new year s day instead it was a small party of just five adults i honoured my agreement i cooked a two course meal and disappeared upstairs periodically during the visit nobody commented on my disappearances nobody was inconvenienced by this except me i have told none of my guests over the christmas new year period of my daughter s request i sent both my children extracts about passive smoking found on your site my son informed me that he d never believed everything said about passive smoking anyway my daughter didn t reply i d like to thank all those who have left posts as they heartened me joyce in particular hit the nail on the head i will tell my daughter that i will never refrain from smoking downstairs again when he visits i would be prepared to go into another room but not to shut myself away again sadly i fear that this will cause his visits to diminish perhaps even cease and i feel a great injustice here as he had a privileged upbringing i also feel bereaved in some way crazy i know public and repeated debunking of the effects of passive smoking is a priority i think but what hope is there for tolerance when even our prime minister and his deputy are ashamed to admit they do or ever did smoke you can read the original post here simon clark 30 comments share article friday jan 07 2011 a teacher writes friday january 7 2011 we have this afternoon received the following email dear forest as a secondary school teacher who on a weekly basis teachers my students about the dangers of cigarettes and tobacco i was wondering in what sense your organisation is doing anything positive in our world don t you think that you should give up the ghost and this losing battle i am a big believer in freedom of choice when that choice is safe and positive but not when a choice will kill and harm you and those around you myself and the entire student faculty look forward to your answer which will be discussed in classes regards prof c d your comments are welcome and i will of course be only too happy to refer him and the entire student faculty to this post should you have anything constructive to say update on friday january 7 2011 by simon clark i have replied as follows dear c please find attached the smoking issue published by forest in 2005 i am sure your students will find it of interest for information about secondhand smoke i attach a further document entitled prejudice and propaganda the truth about passive smoking again i think your students will be interested to learn that there are two sides to every debate kind regards simon clark 40 comments share article thursday jan 06 2011 frankly who gives a tweet thursday january 6 2011 i have just been asked to comment on a story that duncan bannatyne is refusing allegedly to reply to anyone on twitter whose profile picture shows them smoking i am told that some people are complaining that this is unfair and a form of discrimination i say good luck to him if the bigoted old booby chooses not to reply to anyone for any reason whatsoever that s up to him it s a free country ditto if he wants to publicise his extreme intolerance and make himself look a prize chump at the same time that s up to him the real question is why would anyone want to waste a second of their life corresponding even on twitter with this vain egotistical need i go on update on thursday january 6 2011 by simon clark as an experiment forest_smoking is now following duncanbannatyne no sign yet that we have been blocked our hero seems more interested in whether lord sugar or indeed russell brand has sold more books than him now there s a surprise update on friday january 7 2011 by simon clark the daily record has the story likewise the scottish sun dragon dunc fired up by cigs a slow news day in scotland methinks simon clark 13 comments share article tuesday jan 04 2011 escape to ireland tuesday january 4 2011 on my way to stansted to catch a flight to ireland first cork then on to dublin not a bad way to start the year update on wednesday january 5 2011 by simon clark john mallon cork based spokesman for forest eireann reveals that his new year resolution is not to allow himself to be pressurised by his son or anyone else to give up smoking simon clark 1 comment share article tuesday jan 04 2011 it s good to talk why uk ministers must ignore this foreign diktat tuesday january 4 2011 further to the picture of public health minister anne milton rubbing shoulders with deborah arnott at the ash agm last month my attention has been drawn to a recent parliamentary answer given by milton to a question tabled by labour mp grahame morris grahame m morris to ask the secretary of state for health 1 what assessment he has made of the potential contributi...