Tuesday 25 September 2012

A Series Of Uncanny Coincidences

This tweet popped up from the New Zealand plain packaging campaign last night. It might be news to you as it definitely was to me.


You see, as far as we over here are concerned, there is still a consultation process going on regarding plain packs. You know, that old-fashioned idea of the public being considered before government makes its mind up, and all that? The results won't be known for a few months yet, or so we are told.

Plain packs New Zealand, however, seem to think that is entirely irrelevant despite responses being overwhelmingly in favour of ditching the idea. They are very forthright in stating exactly what our government is planning to do. Publicly.

Now, either they are lying the big one to their followers (not easily dismissable, it's what tobacco control do) or they have received information from someone in the know who is not only blithely dismissive of democratic process, but also obviously quite corrupt.

Consider, too, a tweet from Simon Chapman in June - who, remember, lives 10,000 miles away - which states with absolute certainty that those opposing plain packs are universally dodgy.


Again, this is news to anyone who was following the debate in this country, yet conveniently came just a few days after Andrew Black of the Department of Health had written to Simon Clark of Forest about something he claimed to have seen. Not that anyone here knew that at the time, of course.

Chapman offered no link, nor was there any news coverage anywhere of this 'story'. In fact, it wasn't until three months later on the 13th September that the allegations were placed on the Department of Health website surrounding something the department's dedicated Aussie anti-smoker - Andrew Black - says he saw just a few days before Chapman's tweet. Uncannily enough, it concerned "screeds of made up names" being collected. What a coincidence!

How on earth, in June, did Simon Chapman become the only person in the world outside the Department of Health to know what was going on? The Guardian and Independent - the usual cheerleaders - were entirely oblivious, as were the rest of the global press. Yet Chapman looked in his crystal ball and there it was ... a moving picture of what was happening at a London rail hub.

Hey! There's probably a perfectly innocent explanation. Chapman perhaps had had a few glasses of Shiraz and let his imagination run away with him. Maybe the NZ plain packs lot did the same, I dunno.

The alternative - which is uncomfortable to contemplate - is that some unscrupulous soul within the Department of Health is regularly in contact with the other side of the world, passing on info which British voters are not privy to, in order to help influence opinion elsewhere. Oh yeah, and spending our taxes in doing so.

If there was an Aussie or New Zealander at the Department of Health in a position of authority concerning tobacco policy - who was bypassing democratic process by leaking info in advance of government policy - it might be a story which would be worth a newspaper pursuing. Lucky that isn't the case and they're all responsible and professional at the Department of Health then, eh?


18 comments:

Jay said...

Uncanny coincidences as all of these things may be, it sure looks like the whole consultation process is rigged, which we've all been saying for months and months and months...

Now I wonder: what sort of dodgy goings-on happened on the other side of the debate (ahem, CRUK, ahem Smokefree South West)? Somehow, I think any such naughty things will be suppressed and ignored.

Richard Carey said...

Notice Chapman's attack:

"Laughable amateurs"

Compared to the professional manipulators of consultations, like himself.

Christopher Snowdon said...

I remember seeing that tweet at the time and thinking it was strange because there was nothing about it at all in the news or on the blogs. I just assumed he was lying as usual and ignored it. But the timing between the DoH letter to FOREST and Chapman's smug little tweet strongly suggests collaboration.


Can this consultation get any more corrupt?

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Aye.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Yes, that does tend to be the usual modus operandi, doesn't it?

Dick_Puddlecote said...

It makes one wonder what other corrupt shenanigans they have gotten up to in previous campaigns where they weren't being watched as much.


The abuses of process with plain packaging are almost enough to fill a small book! Especially when the fact that other health lobbies around the world are being coached into how to do the same.

Jay said...

Coached by none other than the Root of All Evil, Simon Chapman: https://twitter.com/SimonChapman6/status/248847684641902592

Norman Brand said...

Even if the zealots were to create a world where no-one smokes tobacco, what then? Will they be happy? I heard a brief item on the BBC today reporting that cancer rates were falling except for - wait for it - liver and mouth cancers. Cue: new campaign against alcohol .... ? When people who don't smoke and don't drink still get cancer, what will the zealots do then? Years ago I watched a group of men and boys circle a dwindling patch of wheat as the crop was harvested. They were waiting to catch the rabbits and small animals as they fled the blades. It was the excitement of the hunt which drove them, certainly not concern for the small creatures. Similarly I think the zealots are enjoying the chase - and the sense of power it gives - rather than any devotion to 'public health'. And when, should it happen, they themselves contract a killer disease - and indeed, may they not - it will become clear that controlling other people's lives is no substitute for their facing their own inner demons. People who smoke and people who enjoy alcohol, can never provide escape from them. And I'm sad for the zealots and more sad for the innocent people whose lives they poison. Whose peace of mind they destroy - and that is a danger to their health. For me, the bending of truth, through propaganda and manipulated statistics is the greatest abuse of morality, Christian or secular. Their tower is built on sand. I trust it will collapse in due course.
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Dick_Puddlecote said...

"I heard a brief item on the BBC today reporting that cancer rates were falling except for - wait for it - liver and mouth cancers. Cue: new campaign against alcohol .... ?"


You noticed that too? ;)


Being very clever not to piss on their next big righteous, money-spinning campaign. Drink industry, get ready for a tsunami of bullshit.

Mark.S said...

Well thanks to New Zealand for letting us know.
I wonder if that tweet will vanish?

Dick_Puddlecote said...

I half expected it would have done by today, hence the screen grab last night. It's the first rule when dealing with liars and cheats. ;)

ivandenisovich said...

Of course. The BBC is actively campaigning for minimum pricing for alcohol. The idea that the corporation is in any way impartial or objective when it comes to public health is ridiculous. The evidence of its bias is overwhelming.

Briar Tuck said...

Point of order: I also heard that item, and you needed to listen very carefully to gather that it was not actually about 'cancer rates' falling -- they haven't, it seems.


The story was actually about a fall in cancer DEATH rates -- the number of cancer-caused actual deaths -- rather than the number of cancer cases diagnosed. This seems to me to imply that treatments have, in fact, improved in terms of their potential to extend life, which would, naturally have been good news.


Instead, the item seemed to concentrate mostly on celebrating the fact (sic) that the "reduction in smoking" was a "contributing factor". It failed to note that cancer diagnoses have increased, while smoking has reduced. Classic cognitive dissonance.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

And classic proof that it has never been about health. ;)

Mag01 said...

DP, excellent pick-up.





“who, remember, lives 10,000 miles away”





Makes no difference. The fanatics are connected in the
[clandestine] Globalink network and its listserve. It’s where the zealots share
their toxic information and massage their considerable egos. It’s where a
fanatic in one country can log on and be advised of “tricks and tactics” that
have worked in other countries to push the antismoking agenda.





The issue of plain packaging presents a unique opportunity,
and I speak here of Australia
where these “plain packs” will roll onto the shelves in the next few months.
With most other anti-tobacco measures, those who smoke have had essentially no
recourse but to sit and absorb all the trash that’s been tossed at them, from ever-increasing
extortionate taxes to ever-widening smoking bans. The medical pornography on
packs to date has been on the margins of tolerable.





These new packs are something different altogether. They are
way, way overboard. The entire pack is essentially draped with some diseased
organ, for example. And those who smoke are expected to carry these packs
around as billboards for antismoking derangement and as instruments of further
denormalization. But the sickly situation provides an opportunity for smokers
to voice their protest, hopefully collectively – en masse. They can easily
throw a massive spanner into the delusional plan. There are cigarette cases and
brightly-coloured, plastic cigarette boxes that can be purchased inexpensively.
The medical porn disappears. In one step, the twisted intent of the fanatics is
rendered impotent. Imagine seeing brightly-coloured cigarette boxes all over
the place – in hands, on café tables, etc. It would send a clear, in-your-face
message to the fanatics – and politicians - that enough is enough. And the
zealots would probably deteriorate into some explosion of histrionics, one of
their “I didn’t get my way” tantrums – GOOD!





So, if there are any Australians reading this blog – make a
stand. Go purchase a cigarette case/box and send a clear message to the Public
Health miscreants; indicate that these extremist antismoking measures born of
disturbed minds are deserving only of contempt.





(BTW I’m not affiliated in any way with the sale of cig
cases/boxes).

Mag01 said...

DP, excellent pick-up.





“who, remember, lives 10,000 miles away”





Makes no difference. The fanatics are connected in the
[clandestine] Globalink network and its listserve. It’s where the zealots share
their toxic information and massage their considerable egos. It’s where a
fanatic in one country can log on and be advised of “tricks and tactics” that
have worked in other countries to push the antismoking agenda.





The issue of plain packaging presents a unique opportunity,
and I speak here of Australia
where these “plain packs” will roll onto the shelves in the next few months.
With most other anti-tobacco measures, those who smoke have had essentially no
recourse but to sit and absorb all the trash that’s been tossed at them, from ever-increasing
extortionate taxes to ever-widening smoking bans. The medical pornography on
packs to date has been on the margins of tolerable.





These new packs are something different altogether. They are
way, way overboard. The entire pack is essentially draped with some diseased
organ, for example. And those who smoke are expected to carry these packs
around as billboards for antismoking derangement and as instruments of further
denormalization. But the sickly situation provides an opportunity for smokers
to voice their protest, hopefully collectively – en masse. They can easily
throw a massive spanner into the delusional plan. There are cigarette cases and
brightly-coloured, plastic cigarette boxes that can be purchased inexpensively.
The medical porn disappears. In one step, the twisted intent of the fanatics is
rendered impotent. Imagine seeing brightly-coloured cigarette boxes all over
the place – in hands, on café tables, etc. It would send a clear, in-your-face
message to the fanatics – and politicians - that enough is enough. And the
zealots would probably deteriorate into some explosion of histrionics, one of
their “I didn’t get my way” tantrums – GOOD!





So, if there are any Australians reading this blog – make a
stand. Go purchase a cigarette case/box and send a clear message to the Public
Health miscreants; indicate that these extremist antismoking measures born of
disturbed minds are deserving only of contempt.





(BTW I’m not affiliated in any way with the sale of cig
cases/boxes).

c777 said...

Even worse.
It's not just tobacco either is it?
It's every bloody thing.

PatNurse said...

Whether Walker was at Waterloo Station when he said he was could easily be established if the CCTV could be viewed by the public and as this is very much in the public interest, I think someone should. If he's lying and has conspired with Chapman to rig a British public funded consultation, then that must surely be a criminal matter worthy of police investigation and examination of that CCTV.