On the eve of the smoking ban five years ago, hundreds of liberty lovers came together to rebel and enjoy one last night of freedom. A reunion was held on the eve of the anniversary this week of the ban by smokers lobby group Forest.
In the Scottish jazz heaven of Boisdale Canary Wharf, the biggest table thumping cheer of the night came from a reference to ‘David Cameron’s neo-facist nanny state.’ But this was far from a right wing knees up. While the claret and Chivas Regal kept the crowd lubricated, all strands of political thought came together with righty James Delingpole and lefty Claire Fox treating the crowds to a rally against the state interference.
Delingpole, a preacher of this parish, was on particularly bombastic form, declaring that he was: ‘a denier, I am a smoker and I am a drug taker.’ He liked the crowd too: ‘it’s the darkest before the dawn, but you are the coolest, weirdest most interesting people I’ve met in my life. You are the good people, the right people.’
Not to be out down, Fox of the Institute of Ideas rallied the crowd: ‘come rebels with a cause, with a philosophy of freedom – we can win this, but only if we tell them to nudge off’.
Topping the bill however was General Sir Mike Jackson, who after a turbulent few years as head of the army, did not pull his punches for his favourite people – politicians and civil servants:
‘They all think they know better, but what have they done? Bugger all. How can you assume the human condition can be reduced to zero risk? How stupid can you get? We kill more people on the road every year than we do with the dreaded weed.’
And with that the crowd rose up, and shuffled outside to smoke.
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