The Free Society
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The Free Society, Tobacco Tactics, updated 05 February 2020, accessed 11 April 2024.
The Free Society (TFS) was a campaign run by the tobacco industry front group Forest, whose website went offline around February 2015 1. It advocated “on behalf of those who want less not more government interference in their daily lives”. Its website was edited by Tom Miers. 2
It’s Not Just Tobacco
When TFS launched, its website used a classic tobacco industry PR argument that restrictions on smoking would be followed by attacks on food and drink.
“For years Forest has warned that it was only a matter of time before campaigners (and politicians) moved on to food and drink. So it has proved. Today the “war on tobacco” has been joined by the “war on obesity” and the “war on binge drinking”. As with smoking, we support campaigns that educate people about the risks of over-indulging (as long as the information is factually correct), but we abhor the use of dubious statistics and doomsday scenarios to justify increased taxation and further legislation designed to dictate how we choose to live our lives.
Other areas of interest to The Free Society include motoring (excessive use of speed cameras, unnecessarily restrictive speed limits on motorways), CCTV cameras, compulsory ID cards, free speech and global warming.” 3
Like-Minded Allies
TFS’s website also noted: “On some issues, there already exist groups that are campaigning against excessive government regulation. Safe Speed, for example, is doing an excellent job highlighting the arguments against the number of speed cameras. No2ID is working hard to stop the introduction of compulsory ID cards. The TaxPayers’ Alliance is doing a fantastic job on the question of taxation. There are also some excellent forums where libertarianism is alive and well. (The online magazine Spiked! comes immediately to mind.) Where possible, The Free Society will promote and work with such groups in order to develop an active network of like-minded people. 3
Smoking Ban Worse than Iraq War
In February 2008, an article by Rod Liddle on the website argued that he “hated the smoking ban more than the Iraq war”. 4
People
Columnists on the TFS website included:
- Brian Monteith Chris Snowdon Claire Fox David Bowden Dennis Hayes Eamonn Butler Jason Smith Joe Jackson Martin Cullip Patrick Basham Patrick Hayes Simon Clark Simon Hills Suzy Dean Tom Miers
Affiliations
In June 2011, TFS helped organise a series of debates, called Voices of Freedom, at the Institute of Economic Affairs (which has a history of being funded by the tobacco industry) in London. The events were:5
- Civil Liberties: up in smoke
- Presented by the Free Society and Privacy International
- Chair: Mark Littlewood (director-general, Institute of Economic Affairs)
- Speakers: Peter Hitchens (Mail on Sunday), Simon Davies (director of Privacy International), Dan Hamilton (director, Big Brother Watch), Chris Snowdon (author, Velvet Glove Iron Fist: A History of Anti-Smoking) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood
- Nudge and the nanny state
- Presented by the Free Society and the Manifesto Club
- Chair: Dolan Cumming (Manifesto Club)
- Speakers: Josie Appleton (director, Manifesto Club), Dr Alena Buyx (assistant director, Nuffield Council on Bioethics), Dr Steve Davies (education director, Institute of Economic Affairs), John Springford (Social Market Foundation) and economist Paul Ormerod (author of Beyond Nudge: Networks and Public Policy in the 21st Century).
- Risk and the pursuit of happiness
- Presented by the Free Society and the Democracy Institute
- Chair: Angela Harbutt (Liberal Vision)
- Speakers: Dr Patrick Basham (Democracy Institute), Mark Littlewood (Institute of Economic Affairs) and gambling addict Jake Brindell
- Freedom, education and the state
- Presented by the Free Society and the Adam Smith Institute
- Chair: Claire Fox (Institute of Ideas)
- Speakers: Tom Clougherty (Adam Smith Institute), David Davis MP, Matt Grist (senior researcher at the think tank Demos), Professor Terence Kealey (vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham) and Toby Young (associate editor of The Spectator).
- Definition of a free society
- Presented by the Free Society and Liberty League
- Chair: Simon Clark (Forest)
- Speakers: Tom Miers (The Free Society), Simon Richards (The Freedom Association), Dennis Hayes (Academics for Academic Freedom), Anton Howes (Liberty League), Emma Boon, (The TaxPayers’ Alliance) and Andy Mayer (Liberal Vision)
