Whatever you think of Jeffrey Archer, who has died suddenly, aged 86, you can’t argue that he had an extraordinary life - athlete, politician, author, jailbird, and charity fundraiser (to name just a few).

It says a lot about the man that, even on the eve of his death, he was busy promoting what he described as his “final” book. This weekend he was due to attend the Cheltenham Literary Festival and later this month he was going to be interviewed by Lord Hannan, director of the Institute of Economic Affairs.

The latest tobacco and nicotine-related ‘public’ consultation closed at one minute to midnight on Friday.

Published on July 10 this year, the ‘Tobacco and vapes: packaging, appearance and display’ consultation followed an earlier consultation on ‘Smoke-free, heated tobacco-free and vape-free places in England’ that ran from February 13 to May 8.

I was intrigued to hear that Chris Snowdon is leaving the Institute of Economic Affairs.

He isn’t “disappearing”, he says, nor is he taking a corporate job. Nevertheless, after 14 years it does feel like the end of an era so I’d like to pay a short tribute because he really has made the issue of lifestyle freedoms his own.

With the Labour Party conference taking place in Liverpool this week, I’m reminded of a fringe event, hosted by Forest and the Working Men’s Club and Institute Union (CIU), that took place in the city 15 years ago.

Organised to promote the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign, we joined forces with the CIU because we knew that hosting an event under the Forest banner was unlikely to attract a large number of Labour delegates, especially if the party declined to include the event in the fringe listings, which is what happened in Manchester the previous year.

If you have not already done so, you have until 11.59pm on Friday to respond to the Government's latest tobacco and nicotine-related consultation.

Bizarrely, some of the proposals could result in further restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes and other reduced risk products including heated tobacco, but what has gone largely under the radar, until recently, is the potential impact on cigars.

I know I do a lot of looking back on this blog. I think it’s probably an age thing but it’s not deliberate. More often than not I hear or read something which prompts a memory I then write about.

Two weeks ago, for example, there was an item hosted by Adrian Chiles on Five Live concerning students going off to college for the first time. That, in turn, reminded me that 50 years ago I experienced my own first week at university.

The Great British Pub Awards took place this week and the overall winner was the Tamworth Tap in Staffordshire.

My interest in the awards goes back to a three-year period (2011-2013) when I was on the panel of judges that chose the winner of the Best Smoking Area award, a category that was sponsored by JTI and Forest’s Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign.

I was on GB News this morning discussing the Conservative Party’s plan to ban benefits claimants from spending their welfare payments on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.

According to the Telegraph, Kemi Badenoch says the proposed reforms would be tough on those who exploit the system because welfare has become a “lifestyle choice for those who can’t be bothered”.