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Candy cigarettes cause controversy
18/08/2008 Paisley Daily Express
A sweet shop in Paisley town centre is being criticised for selling chocolate cigarettes to children. Anti-smoking campaigners called for the confectionary to be kept away from children to prevent them experimenting with the real thing. Simon Clark, director of smokers lobby group Forest, responded: “We are talking about sweets here and as far as we are concerned there is no evidence to suggest that children buying these sweets end up smoking in the future.
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Drivers fined for discarding cigs
11/08/2008 Birmingham Mail
In a pilot programme set to spread across Birmingham, nearly 200 drivers who tossed cigarette butts from their cars have been hit by hefty fines. This has sparked fury from pro-smoking campaigners like Neil Rafferty from Forest, who said, “The council will say it's all about cleanliness, but it's about making money. They should be ashamed of themselves, it's a classic case of a local authority jumping on the anti-smoking bandwagon.”
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Smoking ban in British waters
09/08/2008 The Times
Following a move by P&O Cruises banning smoking on three of its cruise liners, it is anticipated that all ships travelling within 12 miles of the British coast will face a complete smoking ban next year. A spokesman for the pro-smoking group Forest said that the move was “part of the extremist health campaigners' agenda”.
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Llandudno driver fined for smoking her own taxi
06/08/2008 Daily Post
A woman taxi driver was handed a £775 bill yesterday by Conwy council after twice lighting up in her parked cab while off duty. A spokesman for the pro-smoking group Forest said of the incident, “It’s disgusting that councils are extorting money from people in this way.”
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Smoking ban costs taxpayers £65K
29/07/2008 York Press
New figures have shown that introducing the smoking ban in York alone has cost taxpayers about £65,000. Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest, called the smoking ban ‘a huge waste of money’. £560 of fines have been issued in York, mostly targeting taxi drivers caught smoking on the job. Rafferty continued, “It seems more and more councils are going to use smoking legislation to fleece people.”
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Painter fined for smoking in van
25/07/2008 BBC News
Gordon Williams, a painter and decorator from Ceredigion, says he was "dumbfounded" after being pulled over by Council officials for smoking a cigarette in his own van. He was slapped with a £30 fine, despite the van only being insured for private use. Simon Clark, the director of the pro-smoking lobby group Forest, condemned the fine, saying, “It smacks of some jobsworth council official interpreting the law to the most extreme level. It is ridiculous that someone should be fined for smoking in their own private vehicle away from any workplace."
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‘Ludicrous’ cigarette ban on police
14/07/2008 York Press
Police officers in York and North Yorkshire have recently been told they are not allowed to smoke on police property, with some stations now forbidding officers to smoke while in uniform. While on duty, police officers are allowed to put on a coat to hide their uniform during smoke breaks, and they must walk off the premises because smoking shelters will no longer be provided. Simon Clark of Forest said the restrictions “…could actually stop officers from responding quickly to an incident if they are outside and then have to get changed.”
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Smoking on-screen under attack
07/07/2008 Guardian
The British Medical Association (BMA) called upon film critics to give an adults-only classification to all films said to ‘glamorise’ smoking, claiming that positive images of smoking encouraged young people to become addicted. Forest spokesperson said restricting the viewing of films portraying smoking would lead to some children's films receiving an adult certificate. "What kind of country has an 18 certificate on 101 Dalmatians? It's completely insane.”
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Sly smokers worry pub inspectors
06/07/2008 Scotland on Sunday
Although officials had hoped the smoking ban in public places would become self-policing, an academic study revealed that pub customers are getting around the ban by lighting up during lock-ins. Neil Rafferty of the pro smoking lobby Forest commented, “The fact that there are lock-ins just shows how stupid and unfair this law is. If people are locking the doors to have a smoke then they are exercising freedom of will.”
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Forest pressures MPs to amend the ban
01/07/2008 The Publican
“Smokers are not going to disappear like a puff of smoke,” says Simon Clark, director of Forest. Today at the House of Commons the pro-smoking lobby plans to ask an audience of MPs to be ‘fair and practical’ about the plight of pubs and clubs one year on from the smoking ban. Clark will launch Forest’s ‘Amend the Smoking Ban’ campaign to lobby for licensed smoking rooms in pubs and clubs and return freedom of choice to smokers.
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‘Pretty rough year’ for smokers
01/07/2008 Politics.co.uk
In a heated debate with the anti-smoking brigade, Neil Rafferty of Forest proclaimed it’s been a ‘rough year’ for smokers since the smoking ban came into effect in England and Wales. Ash may think the ban has been a popular success, but Rafferty has been one of its noisiest opponents and reframed the argument, saying “Ash will say Britain is healthier place. But the underlining point of that is they think health is more important than anything else. We think happiness and freedom is just as important, if not more important.”
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All smokers created equal?
01/07/2008 Guardian
Last week, friends and supporters of the smokers' lobby group Forest raised a doleful cigarette to the first anniversary of the smoking ban in England. On the terrace of a smart private members' club in London's Belgravia, Forest director Simon Clark spoke to Libby Brooks about civil liberties and the government’s restrictions on the pleasures of smoking. Brooks makes an interesting case for smoking as a class issue.
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Smokers ‘bribed’ to stub out
21/06/2008 The Scotsman
NHS Tayside, in a pilot scheme funded jointly by the Scottish Government, is planning to offer £50 cash vouchers each month to smokers who attempt to kick their nicotine addiction. Neil Rafferty of Forest condemned the scheme as “a waste of public money”. He said, “What we object to is when people are forced to stop or being bribed in this way.”
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Adoption ban: a step too far?
05/06/2008 Evening Times (Glasgow)
Another blow has been struck against smokers, with a Scots council banning them from adopting or fostering children aged under five. Forest spoke up for foster carers, saying that “common-sense is conspicuous by its absence in the thinking behind the ban”, and argued that it could deprive a child of a caring home at a time when the UK is short of 20,000 foster carers.
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Forest: tougher tobacco controls may not be effective
02/06/2008 InTheNews.co.uk
Forest has voiced doubt that government proposals designed to reduce the number of young smokers will be effective. About the ban on packets of 10- Forest says people will continue to buy cigarettes but they will buy the larger pack of 20 and will almost certainly consume its contents in less time than they would had they been able to buy, at different times, two smaller packets.
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Branding Ban Plan
01/06/2008 Yahoo! News
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, disagrees with the Government's proposals to ban branding and logos on cigarette packets. In response to Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo’s bid to take the temptation to smoke away from children and rob freedom of choice from adult smokers, he believes the measures will make smoking "more attractive" to teenagers rather than discouraging them. "Yet again freedom of choice and personal responsibility are being sacrificed by politicians who think they know best. What next? Are they going to ban the display of alcohol and confectionery?"
See also: Sky News, The Sun, The Independent, The Guardian, Portsmouth Today, The Herald
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Cigarette machines may be banned
31/05/2008 BBC News
Plans unveiled by the Department of Health include banning brightly coloured cigarette packets, taking away the cheaper pack of 10, and removing cigarettes from open display in shops, and would apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Similar plans have been unveiled in Scotland. Smokers' lobby group Forest said there was "no evidence" to show the plans would to cut smoking in young people. A new TV advert has launched a further assault on parents who smoke with this new anti-smoking shame campaign, click here to view video.
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Health Secretary announces point of sale ban
26/05/2008 The Independent
Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced dramatic new plans to move cigarettes sold in shops out of public display. Cigarette vending machines are to be scrapped and the 10-pack will be outlawed, according to proposals due to be released later this week. Forest spokesman Neil Rafferty attacked the government’s “Orwellian” strategy to force people to behave in a government-controlled way, “It is really disingenuous to say that a point of sale ban is all about children. We are not aware of any evidence that it cuts youth smoking. What this is really about is making smokers feel bad about themselves, feel immoral or feel like they are buying pornography.”
See also: The Mirror, Financial Times, The Courier
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Cigarette displays to be banned in Scotland
22/05/2008, Daily Telegraph
Cigarettes are to be banned from public display in shops under plans announced on Wednesday by the Executive. But the proposals were attacked by the smokers' rights group Forest which said they amounted to a "crude attempt to bully adult smokers into quitting". A spokesman added: "We will soon be living in a country where pornographic magazines will be on display in shops and not cigarettes."
See also: BBC News, The Times
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Mental health patients denied right to smoke in hospital
20/05/2008 BBC News
High Court judges have ruled that psychiatric patients will not be allowed to smoke in a high security mental health facility in Nottinghamshire. Neil Rafferty, of the pro-smoking lobby Forest, commented, “I think it is cruel to impose what is a petty bureaucratic decision in this way. The hospital should be able to provide a facility for these people to have a cigarette."
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The electric cigarette that ... gets round the smoking ban
14/05/08 Daily Mail
Inventors have created an electric cigarette which gives a nicotine hit while still managing to avoid the smoking ban. The small white stick, which looks just like a proper cigarette, contains a chamber that vapourises pure liquid nicotine into a puff of steam. Simon Clark, director of campaign group Forest, said it's a good idea. However he believes smokers may miss lighting a real cigarette.
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Smoking rate up in Ireland
30/04/2008 Today FM, Ireland
Forest director Simon Clark went head-to-head with Prof Luke Clancy of ASH Ireland on The Last Word to discuss the news that the smoking rate in Ireland has gone up two per cent since 2002, despite the introduction of a public smoking ban in 2004. Clark also commented on the story on two other Irish radio stations.
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Live and let live
02/04/2008 The Scotsman
“Who’ll be next once smokers are made social outcasts?” asks Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest the smoking lobby group. Since the advent of Scotland’s smoking ban, Rafferty claims that Scottish smokers have been faced with the denormalisation of smoking in the Government’s attempt to turn smokers into social lepers. What will they denormalise next?
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Ash and Ruin
27/03/08 The Economist
There is continued talk of banning cigarette vending machines to help deter underage smoking. Shops may also be forced to sell tobacco under the counter in a move to keep cigarettes out of sight and mind. Neil Rafferty, of pro-smoking lobby Forest, contends: “It has nothing to do with protecting children and everything to do with making smokers feel bad about themselves.”
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Under the Counter
25/03/08 The Sun
Forest spokesman Neil Rafferty took part in debate over new Government proposals designed to limit access to tobacco. He opposed recent measures toward eliminating cigarette vending machines and said: “When it comes to vending machines, make them operate by credit card – then you stop underage sales at a stroke.”
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Banning cigarette displays may backfire
25/03/08 Daily Mail
Banning cigarette displays in shops in a drive to cut the number of smokers could backfire by glamorising tobacco among young people, claims the Federation of Small Businesses. Forest heartily agrees, “The more you make smoking something taboo and forbidden and wrong, the more you attract teenagers who want to rebel.”
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Cigarettes to be placed out of sight
25/03/2008 Western Daily Press
Dawn Primarolo, Public Health Minister spoke out in a bid to place more restrictions on cigarette displays today. Neil Rafferty from Forest criticized the idea to force shopkeepers to sell tobacco products under the counter in order to “protect our children”, proposing instead that the Government be held accountable for enforcing the correct age limit.
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Censorship or bullying?
25/03/08 Liverpool Daily Post
Campaigners from action group SmokeFree Liverpool called last week for all films featuring smoking to be given an 18 rating, arguing that smoking scenes encourage children to pick up the habit. Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest, argued: “This is not just censorship – it is intimidation and bullying.”
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Oh, sweet temptation
25/03/08 Telegraph
In a new move by government to remove the temptation to smoke, newsagents and supermarkets may have to sell tobacco products from under the counter. Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest, argued this strategy would stigmatise smokers and he branded the measure “creepy and authoritarian”.
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Houseguest smoking faux pas?
22/03/2008 The Scotsman
Lighting up in someone else's house has been voted the most terrible breach of etiquette, according to a survey in the BBC's Good Homes magazine. Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest, responded: "The anti-smoking brigade have basically managed to turn smokers into social lepers these days. These people clearly need to start calming down and get some sense of perspective.”
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Alistair Darling’s first budget hits smokers
13/03/2008 The Mirror
The Chancellor introduced higher tobacco taxes in the new budget, raising the cost of cigarettes by 11p per packet of 20. Simon Clark of smokers' group Forest said: "The biggest loser is the taxpayer. The effect is a huge increase in smuggling and loss of revenue."
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Smoke rises over tax increase
13/03/2008 IC Wales
Simon Clark battled back following the release of the Chancellor Alastair Darling’s budget increase on tobacco taxes. The director of Forest, the smokers’ lobby group, argued that all British taxpayers stand to lose on this deal, “because under this Government tobacco taxation has risen to record levels.”
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Anti-Smoking calls for tax hike
12/03/2008 This is South Wales
Anti-smoking campaigners reportedly said they were disappointed that tobacco duty rises announced in the Budget today were not higher. Simon Clark, from Forest the pro-smoking lobby group, shot back: "…the increased cost of cigarettes will still hit those who can least afford it, especially the elderly, the low paid and the unemployed."
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Pubs threatened by outdoor smoking ban
22/02/08 Daily Mail
A town council in South Yorkshire has infuriated local landlords as new plans have been issued to ban smoking outside pubs and cafes. Businesses have vowed to fight the proposal in court if the Council goes ahead with outdoor smoking ban. Simon Clark, speaking for the pro-smoking lobby Forest, described the scheme as “dubious, difficult to enforce and a potential death knell for businesses.”
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Health watchdogs barking for smoking license
16/02/2008 The Mirror
The nanny state is at it again, this time the British government is considering requiring smokers to apply for a £10 a year license to smoke. Simon Clark, director of Forest, blasted the idea of a smoking license, claiming that smoking was in danger of being driven underground, creating a black market. He warned: "This is a form of bullying. If you target tobacco what about alcohol or fatty foods and dairy products? Will we need a permit to buy them as well?
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License to light up
17/02/08 Daily Mail
Government ministers are considering a proposal that would force smokers to apply for a permit to carry on buying cigarettes. The £10 a year license is meant to encourage smokers to kick the habit, according to the ministerial advisory board. Simon Clark, director of Forest, called the smoking permit proposal “outrageous”. He claimed, “Smokers already face record levels of taxation and this would be another financial hit on them.”
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Better pension payouts for smokers
07/02/08 Daily Mail
Long-term smokers may take advantage of one life assurance company offering them more money on retirement. However, there’s one catch - smokers have been offered a better deal only because they tend to live shorter lives than non-smokers. “There will be a lot of people very interested in taking advantage of such a service,” said Simon Clark, director of Forest.
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Smokers flouting the ban in Oxford
03/01/2008 Oxford Mail
The Oxford Mail questioned 32 pubs across the county and over half of the landlords interviewed had witnessed people flouting the smoking ban. Simon Clark, director of Forest the pro-smoking lobby, commented, “There are a lot of angry smokers who feel the ban is too draconian."
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Don’t Smoke, Eat or Drink too Much, warns the NHS
01/01/2008 Daily Express
Smokers, heavy drinkers and obese people will be banned from NHS treatment under a new proposal which would obliterate free health care for all. Neil Rafferty, of smokers’ rights group Forest, said of the Prime Minister: “He is happy to take tax from smokers in the form of VAT and exorbitant duty. If he is going to start threatening to withdraw NHS treatment, then perhaps we should start refusing to pay tax.”