Forest - Voice and Friend of the Smoker
AWT e-petition update


Thanks to everyone who has signed Antony Worrall Thompson's e-petition calling on the government to review the smoking ban.

If you haven't already done so, or were on holiday when we invited you to do so a couple of weeks ago, please do so now.

The petition currently has 2,559 signatures. That puts it in the top 40 petitions (there are over 6,000 in total). Our modest target is to get the petition into the top 20 where it will enjoy greater visibility. Not only will this bring it to the attention of politicians and journalists, we would expect it to attract further support from casual browsers as opposed to registered supporters such as yourself.

You can help increase the number of signatures in the following ways:

1. If you have a blog or website please add the purple logo below to your sidebar with a link to the petition.

2. Please share the petition on Facebook and invite your FB friends to sign it.

3. If you are on Twitter please add a tweet about the petition, again with a link.

4. Please forward this newsletter to any personal contact who may be interested in signing the petition and invite them to forward it on.

5. We are going to print tens of thousands of e-petition cards for distribution in pubs and clubs. If you would like to distribute some please email us - info@amendthesmokingban.com

Many thanks to the following for promoting and/or adding the e-petition logo (below) to their website or blog:

Dick Puddlecote
Taking Liberties
Velvet Glove Iron Fist
Freedom2Choose
Freedom2Choose (Scotland)
Fuel Injected Moose
Frank Davis
Underdogs Bite Upwards
Tea and Cigarettes
Nothing-2-Declare
Joe Jackson

Anonymong
Joshua Lachkovic
Mark Wadsworth
Orphans of Liberty
Liberal Vision
Subrosa
Pub Curmudgeon
The View from Cullingworth
The Angry Exile
An English Pensioner

The following groups/campaigns are supporting the petition:

Forest
The Free Society
Manifesto Club
Progressive Vision
The Freedom Association
Save Our Pubs & Clubs: Amend The Smoking Ban

The petition has also been reported by the following:

ConservativeHome
Daily Mail Online
Daily Star
Western Mail
Henley Standard
Caterer and Hotelkeeper
The Publican's Morning Advertiser
Retail Times
The Grocer

Meanwhile Peter Hancock, chief executive of Pride of Britain Hotels, says the smoking ban "has crucified pubs and clubs in all parts of Britain and continues to do so".

Writing for Caterer and Hotelkeeper, Hancock says: "Judging by the immediate reaction to Antony Worrall Thompson's campaign to petition the government to review the impact of the law that bans smoking in pubs and other licensed premises, he will garner a fair amount of support."

Full story here.
 
To sign the petition go to: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/14103

You can comment on this story on Simon Clark's Taking Liberties blog. 

 
Apologies for any duplication. We are sending this e-bulletin to the following mailing lists:

Friends of Forest
Save Our Pubs & Clubs: Amend The Smoking Ban
The Free Society


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http://twitter.com/forest_smoking

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Forest, Sheraton House, Castle Park, Cambridge CB3 0AX
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