"Have a fag and a glass of strong cider, Butch!" Arturo said.
"No thanks!" I replied.
"No need to thank me, mi old pal. The alcohol and tobacco lobbies have fared more than well under this
Coalition! Fags and booze galore in
Downing Street! Surprising when you consider how
'Boy David' Cameron was mouthing it off so heartily a few months ago."
"Mouthing it off?"
"Yep!! Don't you recall? In the Spring, in fact, he hinted there would be minimum alcohol pricing and plain cigarette packaging in the Queen's Speech! Doctors all over the country were both pleased and relieved. Then ... along comes Lynton!"
"Lynton?"
"One
Lynton Crosby the
Conservatives' election campaign manager." Arturo winked in an unnerving way. "He has a PR and lobbying firm called
Crosby Textor. According to The Mirror Crosby Textor has long-standing links with the alcohol and tobacco industries:
Lynton Crosby: David Cameron's top aide's links to the alcohol industry revealed:His lobbying company works for a drinks industry body that has campaigned against minimum alcohol pricing in Australia
The article by
James Lyons went on:
New laws to force cigarette firms to sell fags in plain packs have also been shelved since Mr Crosby was hired, along with a compulsory register that would make lobbyists reveal their clients
Downing Street yesterday refused to say whether the PM believes lobbyists undertaking government work should come clean about their clients.
Now the Mirror can reveal that Mr Crosby’s PR and lobbying company works for a drinks industry body that has campaigned against minimum alcohol pricing in his native Australia.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lynton-crosby-david-camerons-top-1875010
Sounded a tad dodgy, I thought! First Cameron is all for minimum alcohol pricing - now he's done his usual U-turn! I decided to find out a bit more detail. A bit more detail?? There were so many stories that I almost sank under the weight! In
'The Conversation', I found the following headline:
Industry trumps evidence in tobacco packaging U-turn
The article commented:
The Conservative party’s chief strategist Lynton Crosby has come under fire for suggesting that the party should focus on core issues such as the economy and immigration rather than public health measures such as plain packaging and minimum alcohol pricing.
But Crosby’s lobbying firm Crosby Textor Fullbrook (CTF) has served the tobacco industry since the 1980s and currently provides advice to tobacco giant Philip Morris. ...
The Department of Health has emphasised that the “UK is known the world over for its comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco control strategy”. It’s a sharp irony, given that the the government is now doing the opposite through an explicit decision to put the demands of tobacco manufacturers and retailers before the health of the public and reducing costs to the NHS from treating smoking-related illnesses.
http://theconversation.com/industry-trumps-evidence-in-tobacco-packaging-u-turn-16069
So '
comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco control strategy' is what we have here in the UK! I don't think so! Not now 'Boy David' Cameron's holding the reins! Maybe politicians reckon they know best about policy - but health?? That's quite another matter.
Pulse, the media for general practitioners had an article by
Sofia Lind after the Queen's Speech. She wrote:
GPC Deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey told Pulse: ‘The Government would be letting the nation down and caving in to the alcohol industry if it failed to take action on alcohol pricing. They were quick to blame GPs for the rise in A&E attendances but if they were really serious about reducing unnecessary visits to A&E they would take tackling alcohol abuse more seriously.’
‘[With regards to] smoking, it is exactly the same. Smoking still kills thousands of people each year and the Government has a moral responsibility to protect citizens and should be taking all steps possible to reduce the number of young people starting to smoke and helping current smokers stop.’
Professor Clare Gerada, chair of the RCGP, said: ‘It was hoped that the Government would take forward bold measures to tackle alcohol and smoking – two of the biggest challenges facing the NHS in the coming years. That the Government has backed down on both of these issues is disappointing, and we urge Ministers to reconsider the weight of evidence suggesting that action is needed.’
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/therapy-areas/addiction/plain-cigarette-packaging-plans-in-doubt/20002897.article#.Uegdzaz9wWk
There was still more to come! The
Independent's
Andrew Grice wrote:
The Prime Minister was accused of using “weasel words” after he and his official spokesmen repeatedly refused to answer the question of whether he discussed plans to bring in plain packaging for cigarettes with Mr Crosby, whose company Crosby Textor represents the tobacco giant Philip Morris.
... The row intensified when the Government formally abandoned a plan previously backed by Mr Cameron to set a minimum unit price for alcohol to combat binge drinking. Crosby Textor also represents a drinks industry body that has campaigned against minimum pricing in his native Australia.
Mr Cameron told the Commons: “He [Mr Crosby] has never lobbied me on anything.” Later he told a press conference: "This is a complete red herring which is raised by the Labour Party because it is in political trouble… with its relationship with the trade unions.”
The Prime Minister said the decision not to go ahead with plain packaging for cigarettes was taken by him and Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, “for the very simple reason that there is not yet sufficient evidence for it and there's considerable legal uncertainty about it.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/smoking-gun-david-cameron-dodges-lynton-crosby-cigarette-packaging-controversy-question-8713969.html
And all this in the light of a report by
Peter Griffiths of
Reuters:
Alcohol is one of Britain's biggest health problems, responsible for 1.2 million hospital admissions in 2012, the government said. It has been linked to heightened risk of liver damage, cancer, stroke and heart conditions.
Announcing his minimum pricing plans last year, Cameron said he realised it would not be popular with everyone, but that "We can't go on like this".
"The responsibility of being in government isn't always about doing the popular thing. It's about doing the right thing," he said in a foreword to the government's alcohol policy strategy in 2012.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/17/uk-britain-alcohol-idUKBRE96G0R320130717
What a merry-go-round! No wonder Arturo is offering fags and cider to all and sundry! It's a funny old world! The Cameron Government is still assessing the impact that minimum alcohol pricing and plain packaging for cigarettes would have on health! Do they really think we're so stupid and we don't understand the real score? Or do they think that smoke has gone not only into our eyes but into our brains as well!
Artuto and me are off to a bistro in Soho tonight!They may have some Chianti but there won't be any fags!
Bye
