Smoke And Mirrors Behind Tobacco 'O-Turn'
Updated: 12:55pm UK, Thursday 28 November 2013
By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent
Flip-flopping? A double U-turn? An O-turn? Whatever you call it, the Government has got itself into a twist when it comes to plain packaging of cigarettes.
First it was doing it, then it wasn't and now it might.
A review into how successful the policy has been in Australia will report in March. If - as is widely expected - it finds in favour the law could be changed by the General Election.
It is a long time since Andrew Lansley said he was convinced.
I interviewed him last April when he was still Health Secretary. In that interview, published in the Times newspaper, he argued persuasively in favour of plain packaging.
"We don't work in partnership with the tobacco companies because we are trying to arrive at a point where they have no business in this country."
By the time David Cameron put the brakes on the plans in July, Mr Lansley was no longer in the Department of Health. The Prime Minister was probably taken aback by the storm of controversy that the decision triggered.
He came under sustained attack because of the suggestion that he might have been influenced by a key strategist. Lynton Crosby, it emerged, was a partner in a company that had advised a tobacco giant.
Mr Cameron insisted he had not been lobbied by Mr Crosby, but did not deny that the two men had discussed the issue.
So why the change of heart now? Some claim it is because the Government felt it was going to lose a vote in the House of the Lords on the issue, after crossbench peers tabled an amendment.
Better to jump before they are pushed?
The Government rejects that notion, saying that it was always prepared to listen to the evidence and will do so now.
Paul Burstow, the Lib Dem MP, was a health minister until late last year and was part of negotiations on this issue. He said plenty of evidence had been gathered already - including 34 different studies - that showed plain packaging could boost the nation's health and stop teenagers from smoking.
He today accuses the Government of "kicking the can down the road" on the issue. He suspects Mr Crosby was to blame for July's delay.
Even as Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, talks about the need for a review he says the evidence is already showing the likely outcome.
But there will certainly be some trying hard to persuade the Government to maintain the status quo. They argue that the move will damage British business - and that while the number of people wanting to quit in Australia has risen, the numbers actually doing it have not.
Those against the ban will not welcome today's change of heart - but they will be glad to have at least a few months to make their arguments.
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