Trenton Oldfield's stupid stunt

The disruption of the Boat Race by self-styled "class warrior" Trenton Oldfield is a reminder that stunts like this can be horribly counter-productive.

Sure, you get your 15 minutes of fame but most people will remember you as a self-indulgent twat and a figure of fun or even revulsion. Your cause - whatever it is - may be hugely undermined, perhaps forever.

It is reported that Oldfield was inspired by suffragette Emily Davison who died throwing herself under the King's horse at the Derby in 1913. Well, had an Oxford oar been any closer to his head Oldfield might indeed have gone down in history - as the first man decapitated live on British TV.

I mention this because I've lost count of the number of times Forest has been urged to organise acts of civil disobedience in the name of smokers' rights.

Doing so without alienating the overwhelmingly moderate people we are trying to represent (or influence) is very difficult. Imagine, for example, if the closing stage of the marathon at the London Olympics was interrupted by activists protesting against the ban on smoking in the Olympic park. Would you welcome it?

(As soon as I wrote that last sentence I regretted it. I fear I know what some of your answers might be!! Experience however has taught me that most smokers would find such actions in their name hugely embarrassing.)

Not every direct action involves breaking the law so we're open to sensible and pragmatic suggestions. Unfortunately public protests can have a negative impact on innocent third parties and that's where you risk shooting yourself in the foot. Unions face the same PR problem when they threaten to strike.

For this reason I was never in favour of groups of smokers going into pubs and publicly lighting up in protest against the smoking ban. Even with the support of landlords like Nick Hogan, such stunts rarely end happily.

On this blog a couple of days ago someone suggested (how seriously I'm not sure) a go-slow when buying cigarettes in a shop hit by the display ban. With respect, what's the point? Why alienate the shop assistant and other shoppers including fellow smokers?

It's like suggesting a go-slow when buying a ticket at a train station in protest at the price of train fares. Even if I agreed with you, if I was in the queue behind you I'd be seriously pissed off and the effect of your 'protest' would almost certainly be counter-productive. In fact I'd probably set up a rival campaign calling for higher fares!

Oddly enough, Trenton Oldfield seems to have had a similar idea. According to the Daily Mail the self-styled "guerilla architect" is "happy to list just what we can all do irritate those nasty old poshos, if we are so disposed. Taxi drivers, for instance, should take the longest routes when they pick up people from addresses where ‘the elite live’. Waiters at exclusive restaurants should wait until hot food is cold before serving it to wealthy customers". Yawn.

Another report, that the Boat Race protester "is prepared to go to jail for his principles", also sounds familiar. In fact the last campaigner I heard say that was a 57-year-old smoker from Northern Ireland (‘Put me behind bars’, says Carter).

I'm not knocking Chris Carter's motivation (although I think he was ill-advised) but the next time a lone campaigner engages in direct action and invites imprisonment, think 'Trenton Oldfield'.

That said, should smoking ever be banned in public parks I do see the attraction of a mass light up because by anyone's standards it would be a victimless 'crime'. Organised with style and humour (and lots of pocket ashtrays) it could be a great success.

Then again, I recommend that we do it before the horse has bolted. A mass light up after smoking has been banned in parks may sound rebellious but like many protests it will be too little too late. The time to act is before legislation is introduced - hence our current plain packaging campaign.

Meanwhile, if anyone comes to us with any more ideas for civil disobedience, I shall stick to our standard response - if it's such a good idea, do it yourself!!