FREEDOM UP IN SMOKE

This year our efforts have been dominated by the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Introduced and then abandoned by Rishi Sunak in 2024 when the former Conservative prime minister called an early general election, a revised Bill was introduced late last year by the new Labour government.

With the first, second and third readings in the House of Commons now a distant memory, the Bill is currently progressing through the House of Lords. In November it completed the Lords committee stage, and we now await the report stage and third reading in the Lords (which is the final opportunity for peers to make amendments) before it returns to the Commons. Royal Assent is expected in March with the flagship policy – the generational tobacco sales ban – expected to be introduced in 2027.

That won't be the end of our campaign against the generational ban however because we will then focus on persuading the Conservative and Reform parties to repeal the policy, should either (or both) find themselves in government after the next election. This of course is what happened in New Zealand when a centre-right coalition took power in 2023 and quickly repealed the legislation introduced by the previous Labour government (albeit before it was enforced).

We will also continue to monitor those local authorities who are tempted to unilaterally extend the smoking ban to licensed pavement areas and other outdoor areas, including parks and beaches. We know too that anti-smoking campaigners would still like to ban smoking outside pubs. The principal aim, however, is to persuade the Government to impose a financial penalty (or levy) on the tobacco industry, the cost of which would almost certainly be passed on to the consumer, so there is still much for us to do.

On a brighter note, we wish you a very happy New Year! Here's a quick recap of our work in 2025.

SAY NO TO NANNY!

'If you’re old enough to vote, drive a car, join the army, purchase alcohol and possess a credit card at 18, you’re old enough to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products.'

As part of our campaign against the Tobacco and Vapes Bill we published several papers and pamphlets in 2025. They included an 8-page pamphlet featuring a specially commissioned illustration of the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, by Howard McWilliam who had previously drawn a similar illustration of Rishi Sunak.

"The Tobacco and Vapes Bill," we wrote, "will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, infantilising future generations of adults. Shame on the prime minister and his equally priggish predecessor.

"If we continue on this righteous path to 'good' health we risk creating a society in which, one by one, personal freedoms we once took for granted will be slowly erased on the altar of public health."

To download Say NO to Nanny! click here or on the image above.

PUBLIC ATTITUDES TO TACKLING SMOKING

In August and September we commissioned a series of polls to gauge public opinion on smoking-related issues and policies. Conducted for Forest by Yonder Consulting, each survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of at least 2,000 adults online. The most notable results were:

• Three out of five respondents (59%) believe that individuals who are legally adults at 18 should be permitted to purchase cigarettes and other tobacco products.
   
• Given a choice of keeping the legal age of sale of tobacco at 18, raising it to 21, or introducing a generational ban, a majority (58%) support alternatives to a generational ban.
   
• A majority (57%) believe that a generational ban will drive MORE consumers to the black market and other sources of illegal tobacco. Only 13% believe it will not have that impact.
   
• A significant majority (67%) believe that purchasing illegal tobacco is an understandable response from consumers faced with the high cost of tobacco bought legally in the UK. Only 21% think it is not understandable.
   
• The public believe that government has more pressing priorities than tackling smoking – improving the health service, for example, or tackling the cost of living. Given a list of ten issues, ‘tackling smoking’ came last.
   
• According to respondents, the most important bills currently progressing through the UK Parliament are the Crime and Policing Bill, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill and the House of Lords (Hereditary) Bill are considered the least important.

"Contrary to what the stop-smoking brigade would have us believe," said Forest director Simon Clark, "further anti-smoking measures are not on most people's wish list."

To download Public Attitudes to Tackling Smoking and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill click here or on the image above.



See also Labour smoking ban under fire (Guido Fawkes) and Poll reveals proposed tobacco bill unimportant to most Brits (Convenience Store).

THE PRICE OF PROHIBITION

"Even if you're not a smoker or remotely interested in smoking, you should read [this] report because this creeping prohibition is going to affect us all." Claire Fox, director of the Academy of Ideas.

In October we published The Price of Prohibition, a paper by Rob Lyons, former deputy editor of the online magazine Spiked and author of several other Forest reports including Nicotine Wars: The fight for choice and Road To Ruin: The impact of the smoking ban on pubs and personal choice.

The 4,000-word essay addressed the possible impact of a generational ban on retail crime and the black market. It also considered the potential for the type of tobacco turf wars we have seen in Australia as a result of punitive taxation and restrictions on the sale of vapes.

Writing for Spiked in October, Rob warned that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 'won’t stop people smoking, but it will be a boon to organised crime'. See The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is prohibitionist madness.

To download The Price of Prohibition click here or on the image above.

FOREST EVENTS

‘Great people, fantastic vibe, excellent speeches’ - the 2025 Forest annual lunch

The annual Forest lunch at Boisdale of Belgravia in London in May was attended by 80 guests including MPs, peers, journalists, parliamentary researchers, think tank staffers, and friends of Forest. Drinks on the terrace were followed by lunch and speeches in the main restaurant. Many guests then returned to the terrace where a substantial number remained, smoking and drinking, until the early evening.

Forest director Simon Clark said, "We appeal to parliamentarians of all parties to stand up for freedom of choice and personal responsibility, and not give in to the zealots, the prohibitionists, and those who think they know best how other people should live their lives."

Special thanks to our host, Ranald Macdonald, MD of Boisdale Restaurants, and guest speaker Claire Fox, aka Baroness Fox of Buckley, who is a member of the House of Lords and a strong advocate of civil liberties. Talking about the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Claire condemned the Government's plan to ban the sale of tobacco to all future generations of adults while placing further restrictions on vapes and other reduced risk products.

Sir Philip Davies, the former MP for Shipley (below), was presented with our prestigious (!) Voices of Freedom award for consistently voting against anti-smoking legislation despite being a non-smoker and having a general dislike of smoking.



Conference calls

For 20 years Forest has also been hosting events, large and small, at party conferences – Conservative, Labour, and Lib Dem. This year we organised our first event (a panel discussion) at the Reform UK conference. Chaired by Forest director Simon Clark, panellists at the NEC in Birmingham were Baroness Fox, director of the Academy of Ideas, Joanna Marchong of the TaxPayers Alliance, and Brian Monteith who is not only a former MSP and MEP but, in a previous life, was Forest's spokesman in Scotland.

A few weeks later, at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, we co-hosted, with the TaxPayers Alliance, an 'in conversation' event in the TPA-run Think Tent. Chaired by broadcaster Duncan Barkes, 'Politics & Prohibition: Freedom Under Fire' featured Jack Rankin MP, the TPA's Joanna Marchong, and Forest's Simon Clark.

Below, from left to right: Duncan Barkes, Joanna Marchong, Jack Rankin MP, Simon Clark

THE FUTURE OF LIBERTY

Special thanks to Students for Liberty (UK and Ireland) for inviting us to take part in The Future of Liberty event in London in July.

Speakers on a hot summer day included Andrew Rosindell MP, Mark Littlewood (Popular Conservatism), Chris Snowdon and Reem Ibrahim (Institute of Economic Affairs), former Conservative MP Steve Baker, and our own Simon Clark. 

The event was a great success and we look forward to working with SfL again in the future. See also The Future of Liberty was a breath of fresh air.

MEDIA MATTERS

Aside from the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the main smoking-related stories this year have concerned more localised attempts to extend the smoking ban to outdoor areas. In April, for example, a pub landlord in Kent banned smoking in his beer garden. The story was widely reported and Forest's Simon Clark was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent and quoted on the BBC News website.

In East Sussex, following voluntary bans on Camber Sands and Bexhill beach, the local council announced another voluntary ban, this time on Pevensey Bay beach. After Simon was interviewed on BBC Radio Sussex, BBC News also reported our reaction – see Voluntary smoking ban set to be trialled on beach.



Following this an environmental group called for similar action on beaches in Guernsey. This time our response was reported by the Guernsey Post (Beach smoking ban ‘would be a massive overreaction’) and BBC Guernsey (Campaign group calls beach smoking ban idea unfair). Speaking to the BBC, we called for more cigarette bins to be provided and encouraged smokers to carry a pocket ashtray so they can take their cigarette butts home.

In response to a poll that reported public support for 'smoke-free' beaches in Yorkshire and Humberside, Forest director Simon Clark also appeared on BBC Look North and was quoted by BBC News: "Of course smokers should be considerate to people in their immediate vicinity but there is absolutely no justification for a ban on smoking on beaches because there is no health risk to anybody apart from the smoker themselves."

To date UK governments have stopped short of imposing a national ban on smoking on beaches and in parks, but one country that is less inhibited is France where a new law was implemented on 1st July. Invited to comment, Simon Clark told BBC World Service, "Anti-smoking is becoming a moral crusade".

Another local story we were asked to comment on was a report that Hull is the 'capital of counterfeit cigarettes'. This led to interviews on BBC Radio Humberside and BBC Look North.

Meanwhile the results of our various polls (see above) have been reported by, among others, the Guardian, Asian Trader, Convenience Store, and Guido Fawkes. According to the Guardian: 'A survey by smokers’ rights group Forest of more than 2,000 adults found 58% would support an alternative to a generational ban on smoking, a quarter would keep the legal age of tobacco sales at 18 while a third said it should be increased to 21.'

Other news: Ahead of the introduction of the ban on disposable vapes on 1st June, Forest director Simon Clark told the Daily Telegraph, "The ban is a disproportionate response to youth vaping and environmental concerns that could and should have been addressed by other means, including education and enforcement of existing laws."

In July Clark appeared on GB News with Hazel Cheeseman, CEO of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), to discuss whether tougher action is needed on smoking.

In September we welcomed the announcement of a ban on the sale of nicotine pouches to under 18s but warned politicians and campaigners not to "demonise" the product. Speaking to ITV Wales, Forest director Simon Clark said: "Nicotine pouches should only be used by adults so we would welcome a ban on their sale to anyone under the age of 18. This should be enforced in the same way as the sale of tobacco and anyone selling nicotine pouches to children should be prosecuted.

"It is important however not to demonise nicotine pouches because evidence suggests they offer a reduced risk alternative to cigarettes that is helpful to smokers who are trying to quit a potentially more harmful habit."

Simon was also quoted in the September/October issue of Tobacco Asia when it published a two-page feature on 'Excise taxes and the global surge in illicit tobacco: a cautionary tale'.

In November Forest's response to the news that the number of vapers in the UK has overtaken the number of smokers for the first time was reported by, among others, the Telegraph, London Standard, and Convenience Store.

Responding to Rachel Reeves' Autumn budget and yet another hike in tobacco tax, our director Simon Clark told The Sun that the increase "will fuel illicit trade, costing the Treasury billions of pounds in lost revenue".

The Daily Mail also reported our belief that government attempts to achieve a 'smoke-free Britain' could backfire. "People," said Clark, "are fed up of government dictating how they live their lives, and further intervention could do more harm than good."

In December Clark appeared on ITV Wales after the Welsh Senedd passed a legislative consent motion (LCM) in support of the UK government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill. 

To read some of the press releases we have issued in 2025, click here.

PODCASTS AND INTERVIEWS

Earlier this year Forest director Simon Clark discussed the war on smokers on the TaxPayers Alliance podcast, A Nation of Taxpayers.

Hosted by broadcaster Duncan Barkes and also featuring the TPA's Benjamin Elkes, the 30-minute conversation covered government over-reach, the pleasure of smoking, the Government's generational tobacco ban, and the more general attack on our rights and freedoms.

Simon also criticised the Government for announcing, as part of a spending review, an additional £80m per year for smoking cessation 'and enforcement'. The War On Smokers: Freedom Under Fire is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube (audio only).

Simon was also a guest on Last Orders, the anti-nanny state podcast. Hosted by Tom Slater, editor of the online magazine Spiked, and Chris Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, they discussed the public health industry's war on nicotine (and consumers), the 'myth' of fat kids, and the long history of political bias on the BBC.

To watch the 40-minute podcast click here or on the image below.



In September Clark was interviewed by Tobacco, a Hungarian magazine based in Budapest. The interview appeared in two parts – in the October and November print editions, and online – with English translations also available online.

In part one Simon shared his thoughts on Forest’s goals and the UK’s current tobacco policies. In the second he discussed Forest's legitimacy, the consequences of the war on smoking, and the political context of smokers’ rights. You can read part one here, and part two here.

FOREST IRELAND

"Punishing consumers, especially those from poorer backgrounds, by repeatedly raising the tax on tobacco is not only unfair, it's also counter-productive because it will hurt legitimate retailers in Ireland." Forest Ireland quoted by RTE

In Ireland, where cigarettes are the most expensive in Europe (with the possible exception of the UK), Forest urged finance minister Paschal Donohoe to freeze the duty on tobacco, noting that, "Another tax hike will encourage more smokers to buy even more tobacco on the black market because there is very little stigma attached to it. For most people, including non-smokers, it is understandable given the punitive levels of tobacco duty in Ireland."

Our plea was reported by the trade magazine Checkout but our request was ignored and smokers were hit with yet another increase in tobacco duty. Our response to the 50c increase was nevertheless reported by RTE, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Sun, Irish Mirror, and the Irish Star.

Earlier in the year, discussing cigarette litter on Newstalk, Ireland's largest independent radio station, Forest director Simon Clark told presenter Sean Moncrieff he didn't condone littering ("We do think smokers should behave more responsibly and, wherever possible, take their butts away with them") but he had "some sympathy with smokers because, in a great many places, there are no cigarette bins where they can get rid of their butts safely".

In July, following the introduction of a beach smoking ban in France, Clark took part in another discussion on Newstalk. 'Should Ireland ban smoking on the beach?' asked Lunchtime Live. "No!" argued Simon and journalist Ian O'Doherty, an old friend of Forest. Responding to calls for a smoking ban in select outdoor spaces in Ireland, Clark also appeared on Ocean FM.



In September we published the results of a poll conducted by iReach for Forest that found that 79% of adults agree that it is ‘understandable’ that smokers might choose to buy cigarettes from the black market or abroad where tobacco is often significantly cheaper than in Ireland. Significantly, that view was supported by 91% of smokers and 76% of non-smokers.

If excise duty on tobacco was increased, 32% of smokers in Ireland said they would buy more tobacco products when abroad including duty free in the UK; 13% would buy more tobacco on the black market; and 10% said they would buy more tobacco from other sources, including friends, who are not legitimate retailers.

In the event of another tax hike, only 22% of smokers said they would most likely buy legal tobacco products from legitimate retailers in Ireland. (See Campaigners request tobacco duty freeze ahead of Budget 2026).

Vaping was also in the news in Ireland and in February we were quoted by The Journal in a report about illicit vapes and the risk they represent to consumers:

'Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest, told us, "instead of obsessing about the motives of a legitimate industry, public health campaigners should work with the industry for the long-term benefit of adults who enjoy consuming nicotine".' See 'Irish vape users are being failed in the face of illegal products'.

The Irish Daily Mail also quoted Forest on the subject of vaping, with director Simon Clark noting that "Government policy should focus not on forcing people to quit nicotine but on educating them about the relative risks of smoking and vaping".

Last but not least, we were invited to discuss Ireland's new vape tax on Ocean FM and WLR FM in Waterford.

A SHORT TRIBUTE TO ...

... Daily Mail columnist Tom Utley who retired at the end of November after a stellar 50-year career in journalism. According to Simon Clark:

'Our paths first crossed shortly after I joined Forest in 1999. Auberon Waugh, a hero of mine when I was a student, was editing the Literary Review from a small office in Soho, and had founded the Academy Club in an adjacent building. 

'Although the name sounds quite grand, the location was a spartan room with a tiny bar and a handful of wooden tables and chairs on the first floor of a rather Dickensian property that overlooked Lexington Street.

'Waugh was a supporter of Forest and he suggested we should ‘sponsor’ a series of monthly soirees to which he would invite many of the writers and journalists he had ‘persuaded’ to contribute to his magazine (often without payment), and this was a way of saying thank you. I loved the idea and Tom was one of the first to be invited, which is how we met (although I doubt he will remember). 

'After Bron’s death in 2001 those smoke-filled parties came to an end, but I enjoyed Tom’s writing (he was a leader writer and columnist for the Daily Telegraph at the time), and in 2003 – after he urged ‘Smokers of the world unite! We have been bullied and nannied long enough’ – we awarded him the title ‘Journalist of the Year’.

'In a subsequent article for the Telegraph he described how 'chuffed' he was to win the award. Unfortunately, he added, he had been 'waiting in vain to discover what physical form the award would take'. Unhappily, he concluded, 'The award seems to consist entirely of a sentence on an obscure website on the Internet.'

'We made amends by sending him 200 Marlboro Reds (his cigarette of choice), and Tom subsequently attended multiple Forest events, rarely missing our annual lunch (or dinner) at Boisdale. In 2022 he was presented with another award (the much coveted Voices of Freedom trophy!), thereby becoming the only person to have received two Forest awards.'

Enjoy your retirement, Tom, you've earned it!

Above: Tom Utley at the Forest Annual Lunch in 2025 and, below, at our Smoke On The Water boat party in 2024

AND FINALLY ... GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

'All I want now is to be left in peace; to smoke my pipe and to enjoy an odd pint of stout.’

Farewell 'Grandad', Ireland's 'most cantankerous auld fella' (Taking Liberties)