Campaign News

Campaign unveils news poster

24/08/10
The Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign has unveiled a new poster featuring the slogan 'Pubs Need Smokers'. A version of the poster will appear as an advertisement in the Morning Advertiser, the weekly pub trade magazine (August 26, 2010, issue). Supporters are invited to upload the image to your own blog or website (with a link to the Save Our Pubs & Clubs website). You can also download it as an A4 or A3 poster by clicking on the links here. We suggest you send a copy to your MP or take one to your local pub.

MPs call for review of smoking ban in pubs and clubs

06/07/10
Brian Binley MP, a supporter of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign, has tabled an early Day Motion calling on the Government to "to conduct a thorough review, supported by consultation with all parties and affected business sectors, on the impact the smoking ban has had on public houses and private members' clubs. The EDM was published in July and currently has the support of 26 MPs from the three main parties including former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis (Conservative), Joim Dowd (Labour) Adrian Sanders (Liberal Democrat).

Great British Pub awards

10/06/10
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has joined forces with the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign to support the Best Creative Outdoor Area award in the Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards 2010.

Campaign director Simon Clark said: “By supporting this award we aim to show our commitment to publicans who go that extra mile to accommodate all their customers, including smokers, throughout the year.

“Although we want the smoking ban amended to allow separate smoking rooms, we also want to highlight the fact that the ban could be extended to doorways and beer gardens with exclusion zones around many public buildings, including pubs and bars.

“Supporting this award gives us the opportunity to highlight this very real threat that could have serious repercussions for publicans and their customers.”

Jonathan Yajima, JTI’s Head of Horeca and Vending, said, "Our aim to help licensees improve the profitability of their business and accommodate all their customers, including the 10.5 million smokers in the UK.

“Therefore we are delighted to support both the Best Creative Outdoor Area award at the Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards 2010 and the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign.”

Pubs and Clubs campaign to meet pubs minister

29/03/10
Greg Knight, Conservative MP for East Yorkshire and a prominent member of the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign, is to meet the new pubs minister John Healey to discuss the problems caused by the smoking ban. Knight will be joined by David Clelland, Labour MP for Tyne Bridge, and Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest which is backing the campaign.

Clark said, "Since the introduction of the smoking ban in England and Wales in 2007 thousands of pubs have closed and ten of thousands of jobs have been lost. We know there are a number of factors responsible, but the smoking ban is one of the more significant. Despite this, a lot of people want to sweep the issue under the carpet and hope that it will go away.

"We believe that the option of separate smoking rooms, which would bring Britain into line with most EU member states, is a reasonable compromise that would encourage many smokers to return to their local pub without causing any inconvenience to customers who prefer a smokefree environment.

"We will also be lobbying the minister to reject talk of extending the smoking ban to doorways and beer gardens. Pubs need all the help they can get, not more restrictions that would deter even more people from going to the pub.

Christmas card initiative highlighted in Daily Telegraph

05/01/10
Over 200 people, most of them supporters of amendments to the smoking ban, have posted comments on the Daily Telegraph website in support of an article by Vicki Woods on Saturday 2 January. Woods was prompted to write about the plight of Britain's pubs when she received a card featuring a depressed Santa sitting under a pub sign saying NOBODY'S INN. "On the back was the business: please Save Our Pubs and Clubs by visiting amendthesmokingban.com. I duly did, and found a campaign pleading for some flexibility over the UK's blanket ban on smoking in public places. Click here to read the article and comments.

Bands unite to amend the smoking ban

Above: Forest director Simon Clark at a campaign event in November

25/11/09
In 2007 photographer, musician and graphic designer Dan Donovan created a personal photographic journal entitled Ninety Smokers. Today Dan is keen to help promote the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign. One half of garage rock band King Kool, he recently organised a special gig in London on Wednesday 25th November.

Venue was the basement bar at The Cross Kings near Kings Cross station in London. "It's more of a rock 'n' roll dungeon," said Dan, adding, "King Kool are a grunge sounding outfit, not dissimilar to Iggy Pop and The Stooges. Also playing were Larp, post punk outfit similar in sound to The Clash or Ramones, and Native Souls - ball crunching funk rock."

Click to download the promotional flyer. See 'Nanny Town' by King Kool on YouTube.

Luton - Conservative PPC supports amendment to smoking ban

03/11/09
At the invitation of the local Licensed Victuallers Association (LVA) which represents independent licensees, we held a Save Our Pubs & Clubs meeting at The Bramingham pub in Luton. The meeting was well attended and we made some very useful contacts including Nigel Huddleston, Conservative PPC for Luton South, who even donned a SOPAC t-shirt for the occasion! Registering his support for our campaign, Nigel told us: "Politicians should respect people's freedom to choose."

Conservative conference 2009

06/11/09
Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, added his support to our campaign when he attended a Save Our Pubs & Clubs drinks party at the Conservative conference in Manchester. The event, organised by Forest and The Freedom Association, attracted over 100 delegates to Beluga Bar and Restaurant.

Pubs need smokers, says AWT

28/09/09
Pubs need smokers, Antony Worrall Thompson told the Henley Standard. The celebrity chef, who runs the Greyhound at Rotherfield Peppard near Henley, is backing the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign to amend the ban, along with artist David Hockney.

The group has suggested that the ban be amended to the Spanish model where smaller venues can choose to be smoking or non- smoking, while larger venues have a designated smoking room that doesn’t affect air quality elsewhere. Full story here.

Labour conference 2009

26/09/09
At the Labour conference in Brighton the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign unveiled a new poster campaign featuring the slogan "52 pubs are closing each week - act now". The poster was featured on an ad van that patrolled the promenade outside the conference centre. Campaign beer mats were also handed out to delegates.

Liberal Democrat conference 2009

22/09/09
Lembit Opik MP added his name to our campaign when he attended a Save Our Pubs & Clubs drinks party at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth. The event, organised by Forest, The Free Society and Liberal Vision, followed a panel discussion during which Simon Clark, director of Forest and the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign, called for amendments to the smoking ban.

David Hockney supports our campaign for smoking rooms

20/09/09
Artist David Hockney is backing our campaign for a review of the smoking ban which he says is destroying "bohemia". Speaking on BBC1's The Politics Show (20 September 2009), the 72-year-old lifelong smoker accused former prime minister Tony Blair and his successor Gordon Brown of interfering in his life and said: "I loathe them for it."

East Yorkshire Conservative MP Greg Knight, who is leading the campaign, said that without a relaxation of smoking laws hundreds more pubs and clubs may be forced to close as they lose trade from smokers.

The BBC has the story on its website here. It is also inviting comments here.

Save Our Pubs & Clubs at the 2009 party conferences

01/09/09
The smokers' lobby group Forest has announced plans to publicise the Save Our Pubs & Clubs: AmendTheSmokingBan campaign at the three main party conferences.

At the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth, Forest will join forces with Liberal Vision and together they will co-host a drinks reception at the Royal Exeter Hotel to promote the campaign. Date: Tuesday 22 September, 7.30-9.15pm.

The following week, in Brighton (28-30 September), a campaign ad van will patrol the road outside the conference centre. The message: "52 pubs are closing every week ... save our pubs and clubs ... amend the smoking ban ... NOW!"

Finally, in Manchester, Forest will join forces with The Freedom Association to co-host another drinks reception to promote the campaign. Venue: Beluga Bar & Restaurant. Date: Tuesday 6 October.

For further information email info@amendthesmokingban.com.

Lincoln - music festival backs our campaign

29/08/09
As part of an annual four-day music festival, The Jolly Brewer pub in Lincoln hosted a special "Smokin' Festival". According to landlady Emma Chapman, the festival is "dedicated to every smoker who got chucked out in the cold after the 2007 smoking ban came into force". A supporter of the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign, Emma is also organising a petition against the smoking ban. Save Our Pubs & Clubs beer mats will be on display and bar staff will be wearing our campaign t-shirts.

Musician calls for freedom of choice and tolerance

10/08/09
Musician and writer Joe Jackson has added his support to the campaign to amend the smoking ban. Speaking from Berlin where he now lives, Jackson said: "Personally, I don't think the government has any business banning a legal pleasure on private property like pubs and clubs, especially when the evidence on so-called 'secondhand smoke' is so feeble.

"Nevertheless, I know from experience that the more reasonable, partial smoking bans in Germany and Spain are broadly popular because they actually provide some freedom of choice. Let pubs and clubs have smoking rooms, and when they're not big enough to do so, let them decide their own policies. Better still, simply promote good ventilation and tolerance, a dirty word to the antismoking zealots."

Further reading:
How killjoys colonised Britain's public houses
Joe Jackson: greetings from Berlin

Publicans support change to legislation

30/06/09
A letter signed by TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson and 18 publicans has been published in the Daily Telegraph. The letter, written on behalf of the Save Our Pubs and Clubs campaign, calls on "politicians of all parties to help save our pubs and clubs by introducing an amendment to the smoking ban". 

"Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the smoking ban in England. As publicans, we believe that its impact in reducing trade has been substantial.

"We seek a solution that is fair to smokers, non-smokers and staff alike. We consider it wholly unreasonable that, when up to half of our customers are regular smokers, we can make virtually no provision for them. But we are also conscious that many pub-goers are keen on a smoke-free atmosphere. That is why we are calling for an amendment to the smoking ban, rather than its full repeal.

"We seek a solution that is fair to smokers, non-smokers and staff alike ... If we were allowed, for example, to provide separate smoking rooms while ensuring that non-smokers’ preferences were catered for, we could improve our service without causing any upset."

To read the full letter and list of signatories, click here.

MPs support campaign to amend the smoking ban

23/06/09
A new cross-party campaign has been launched calling for amendments to the public smoking ban to help save many of Britain’s pubs and clubs. With dozens of pubs and clubs closing every week, the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign brings together a wide range of politicians, pressure groups, think tanks, publicans and other representatives of the hospitality industry.

MPs from the three main parties have agreed to support the campaign. Greg Knight, Conservative MP for East Yorkshire, said: "I fully support this campaign.  Britain's pubs and clubs are at the heart of every local community and the UK approach of banning indoor smoking everywhere is damaging the viability of many licensed premises where people wish to smoke.  Pub landlords and club committees know best what their customers want and they should be allowed to provide smoking rooms if there is a demand."

David Clelland, Labour MP for Tyne Bridge, said: “Pubs and clubs are feeling the strain economically and that may be partly due to the smoking ban, so I support this campaign.”

John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, said: "When the ban went through I proposed an alternative of a separate smoking room. This would be better for non-smokers as they would not have to go through a gauntlet of smokers when going to a pub, which is an unintended consequence of the ban. We need to amend the law so it is fair to smokers and non-smokers alike and doesn't compromise the future of pubs and clubs."