Ghosted by Five Live

To no-one’s surprise, least of all mine, I won’t be on Five Live with Matt Chorley this afternoon discussing ‘20 years of the smoking ban’.

I assume they are marking the day (February 14, 2006) that MPs voted to introduce a comprehensive workplace smoking ban in England, because the ban itself wasn’t enacted until July 1, 2007. Alternatively it may be a reference to the smoking ban in Scotland, which began on March 26, 2006, but I suspect it’s the former.

Either way, I’m disappointed not to be included in the discussion because I’ve got a lot to say. As I explained in my previous post, I emailed Chorley’s producer offering to take part but I didn’t get a reply. Yesterday therefore I sent a follow-up email pointing out that:

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is currently progressing through parliament and enters the report stage in the House of Lords on 24th February. It is therefore important that any discussion of the smoking ban is reasonably balanced and there are voices and opinions from both sides of the debate – pro-choice and anti-smoking.

Given that the future of Britain's pubs is currently in the news, it's also worth pointing out the impact of the smoking ban on pubs in Britain in the aftermath of the ban – see: Road To Ruin? The impact of the smoking ban on pubs and personal choice.

I also attach the results of a series of opinion polls we commissioned last year – see Public Attitudes to Tackling Smoking and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

This time she did respond and I was told that one of her colleagues was setting up the discussion. ‘I expect she'll be in touch with you today. We're keen to reflect all opinions in the discussion but I'll let her confirm’.

That was yesterday morning and I’ve heard nothing since so I appear to have been ghosted. Thanks, Five Live.

Update: Guests on the programme were Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health when MPs voted for the ban; Caroline Flint, public health minister when MPs voted for the ban; Professor Linda Bauld, public health professional; and Nigel Jones, a publican at the time of the ban and now a representative of the Campaign for Pubs.

You can guess what Hewitt, Flint and Bauld had to say, but even Jones claimed that “It is better” since the introduction of the ban. Other viewpoints were noticeable by their absence.