I was so sorry to hear that Rod Liddle had died. We met on several occasions and although I never really got to know him he was always great fun.

The first time we met was at The Savoy hotel in London in 2007 when Forest hosted a dinner to mark the imminent arrival of the smoking ban in England. The event was promoted as one of the last opportunities to eat, drink and smoke in an indoor public place, and almost 400 people joined us for what was a memorable evening.

The pub smoking ban continues to divide opinion. According to a UK-wide poll commissioned by Forest and conducted by Yonder Consulting following Restore Britain’s pledge to allow indoor smoking rooms in pubs:

35% think pubs and private members’ clubs, including working men's clubs, should be allowed to provide a well-ventilated designated smoking room to accommodate smokers, 51% think they should not be allowed, and 15% said ‘don’t know’. 

Hat-tip to my old friend Brian Monteith for drawing this to my attention. It’s a short clip of the Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey interviewing Nigel Farage.

It features two minor revelations. One, Nigel doesn’t deny that he still smokes up to 20 cigarettes a day, down from 40. Two, he carries a small tin that he uses as a pocket ashtray, which is something all smokers should do.

Further to my previous post, which mentioned Forest’s Stand Up for Liberty shows at The Comedy Store in Manchester, I don’t think I’ve ever told the full story of the 2013 event.

After the success of the 2011 show, I was keen to do it again when the Conservatives returned to Manchester two years later. But this time I wanted to make a whole evening of it and organise three back-to-back events, including Stand Up for Liberty, and promote them under one umbrella - The Liberty Lounge.

I can’t think many people will be dismayed by the BBC’s decision to cancel Live At The Apollo.

The consensus on my social media timeline (which I accept may not be universally representative) is that the long-running show lost its way a long time ago, but I was pleased to see ‘heavy metal comedian’ Steve Hughes mentioned by several people as an example of what the show has been missing.

The header on this blog features a photo of me and comedian Simon Evans at the Forest Annual Lunch in 2023.

It was taken on the cigar terrace at Boisdale of Belgravia and it’s one of my favourite images because it captures the essence of that event - people enjoying themselves.

As some of you know, I am a huge fan of XTC, the title of whose 1979 single (‘Making Plans for Nigel’) has been referenced in a bizarre dispute between Reform's Nigel Farage and the Green Party’s Zack Polanski.

As I understand it, Polanski shared a social media post that included multiple images from a Green Party event, one of which was a photo of a man wearing a t-shirt that featured an illustration of a French-style guillotine accompanied by the words ‘We’re only making plans for Nigel’.

It was reported last week that Restore Britain, the ‘far right’ party led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, ‘wants to bring back smoking in pubs’ which is technically true, but the proposal is actually a little more nuanced than that.

According to one report, a Restore Britain Government will allow pub landlords and other venue owners to install a smoking room. "If adults want to smoke inside a contained room, and the landlord is happy to provide that, then it's none of our business. Crack on.”