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Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 1 HANDS OFF OUR PACKS SAY NO TO PLAIN PACKAGING Diary of a Political Campaign Simon Clark Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 2 Published in Great Britain in 2014 by Forest Ltd Sheraton House Castle Park Cambridge CB3 0AX Copyright © Simon Clark All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the author and publisher. Printed in Great Britain by Berforts Information Press Ltd Kings Lynn Norfolk PE31 6AG Cover design by Dan Donovan www.battenburg.biz Typeset by Andrew Hook www.forestonline.org www.handsoffourpacks.com www.noprimeminister.org.uk Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 3 About the author Simon Clark is director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest and founder of The Free Society which highlights excessive regulation in areas including tobacco, food and drink. He has worked in public relations, political and media research, magazine publishing and event management. For 15 years he has lobbied on behalf of smokers and tolerant non-smokers. He appears regularly on radio and television and is frequently quoted by the UK and international media. Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 4 Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 5 Acknowledgements Special thanks to Angela Harbutt who joined the Hands Off Our Packs campaign in January 2012 on a six month assignment and stayed two years; to Amul Pandya who helped launch the campaign and contributed some invaluable research; to the numerous bloggers who helped promote the campaign; to everyone who submitted Freedom of Information requests that helped reveal the use of public money to lobby government; and most of all to the hundreds of thousands of people who signed petitions or wrote to the prime minister and the Department of Health opposing standardised packaging of tobacco. Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 6 Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 7 About Forest Founded in 1979 by Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, a former Battle of Britain fighter pilot, Forest represents adults who choose to consume tobacco and non-smoking adults who are tolerant of other people’s enjoyment of tobacco. Forest spokesmen appear regularly on British TV and radio and are often quoted by local and national newspapers. Popular annual events include Smoke On The Water and The Freedom Dinner in London. Publications include The Bully State: The End of Tolerance and Civil Liberties: Up In Smoke. In February 2012 Forest launched the Hands Off Our Packs campaign to fight proposals to introduce standardised packaging for tobacco. In August that year, in response to a 16-week public consultation on plain packaging, the group submitted the names of over 250,000 adult consumers who signed petitions opposing the measure. In August 2014, in response to a final six-week consultation, Forest submitted the names of over 150,000 people opposed to plain packaging. Responses included 53,000 letters to the prime minister, 97,000 petition signatures, plus an estimated 8,000 emails. Disclaimer: Forest is supported by British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Limited and Gallaher Limited (a member of the Japan Tobacco Group of Companies). However the views expressed in this book or any other Forest-affiliated publication or website are those of the author or Forest alone. Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 8 Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page i Introduction Since 2002 successive UK governments have banned tobacco advertising and sponsorship, prohibited smoking in all enclosed public places (including every pub and private members’ club in the country), outlawed cigarette vending machines and banned the display of tobacco in shops. Other anti-smoking initiatives have included graphic health warnings and substantial increases in the duty on tobacco. Plain packaging is the latest battleground in the war on tobacco, a legal product that raises over £10 billion a year for the Treasury. In 2012 a four-month government consultation resulted in over 665,000 responses. Over 250,000 were generated by the Hands Off Our Packs campaign, owned and managed by the consumer group Forest. Overall there was a huge majority opposed to standardised packs, 427,888 against, 238,101 in favour. In May 2013, when standardised packaging was omitted from the Queen’s Speech (aka the government’s programme of legislation), it seemed ministers had accepted the overwhelming result of the consultation and the argument there was no credible evidence plain packaging would stop children smoking. Six months later prime minister David Cameron took everyone by surprise when he announced the government was to commission a new review on plain packaging, to be conducted by leading paediatrician Sir Cyril Chantler. On April 3, 2014, Sir Cyril published his report. Despite the absence of hard evidence that plain packaging would prevent i Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page ii Hands Off Our Packs children from smoking, Sir Cyril recommended its introduction. The same day public health minister Jane Ellison issued a statement in which she declared the government was “minded” to introduce standardised packaging subject to a “final short” consultation. A six-week consultation “on the regulations on standardised packaging of tobacco” began on June 26 and closed on August 7, 2014. On Tuesday August 5 Forest delivered to Downing Street more than 53,000 letters addressed to the prime minister opposing plain packaging. Two days later a duplicate set of letters plus 97,000 petition signatures were delivered to the Department of Health. An estimated 8,000 consumers also sent emails to the DH opposing the policy. This book is a diary of Forest’s two-and-a-half year campaign against standardised packaging. Originally written for my blog Taking Liberties, posts record not only the nuts and bolts of the campaign but also the reasons why this apparently dull issue matters to so many people. Finally, an apology. The Head of News Development at The Times and Sunday Times recently described as “Pooterish” one of my blog posts (in which he featured quite heavily!). I am conscious this entire book might be similarly described. Truth is, it’s not intended for a broad readership. The target audience is one that has a specific interest in standardised packaging or, more generally, an interest in the political process. If you fall into either category, I hope you enjoy it! Simon Clark Director, Forest September 2014 ii Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 1 January-February 2012 Coloured packs are a threat to kids, says Lib Dem MP January 16, 2012 Get ready for an all out assault on cigarette packs. Earlier today Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, helped launch “Europe’s first major campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of glitzy tobacco packaging to children”. Writing on his blog, Williams, a close confidante of Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, declared: The primary aim of the campaign to introduce plain packs of cigarettes will be to protect children and young people from the subtle marketing techniques of the brand owners ... Plain packs would be the same size, same colour, same font for the product name and nothing else other than the health warning. The Silent Salesman would not just be mute, he’d look very dull and lonely. Funny, isn’t it, that when campaigners demanded a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the Nineties no-one thought to mention the humble cigarette pack. There’s a simple reason for that. Packaging is not advertising in the accepted sense of the word. Like many other forms of packaging, cigarette packs are designed so that consumers can distinguish between one brand and another and make their choice accordingly. 1 Hands Off Our Packs_edit.qxp 18/10/2014 17:47 Page 2 Hands Off Our Packs There is not a shred of evidence that ‘plain’ packaging will deter teenagers from smoking which is why anti-tobacco campaigners like Williams want to go even further and introduce not ‘plain’ packs but grotesque packs featuring larger graphic warnings, most of them disproportionate to the actual risk. If they get their way every pack will be a uniform colour – not white or black but a colour that, they say, appeals least to smokers. If they use Australia as a role model it will be drab green. Only one word to describe Stephen Williams MP January 18, 2012 You’ve got to laugh. When Stephen Williams, Lib Dem MP and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, sat down to write about the new Plain Packs Protect campaign on Monday he must have thought he was on pretty safe ground. After all, he had just come from a tobacco control conference on his home patch (Bristol) where he would have been surrounded by anti-smoking campaigners. Voices querying their grand plan to rid the world of smokers would have been non- existent. You see, tobacco control activists live in a bubble. They don’t invite opponents to their shindigs, they refuse to share a platform with “pro-smokers”, and contrary opinions are actively discouraged. So what happened next may have surprised the MP for Bristol West. His blog post provoked a response, most of it hostile. In fact, as I write, there are 148 comments on this particular thread.