Consider 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.Well, it seems he again seems to know more than any of us plebs on this side of the planet.
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!
@sadbutmadlad No,we've won #plainpacks in Oz, NZ, UK, soon India, Norway, many Pacific nations etc. More fish to fry
— Simon Chapman (@SimonChapman6) March 22, 2013
Yes. Apparently, despite Anna Soubry and David Cameron claiming to the contrary, the debate over plain packaging of tobacco has already been "won" in the UK.
Now, we could ask if the Department of Health has been talking to Mr Chapman, but it could just as easily be his own Ministry of Health. You know, the same ones who extended the UK consultation by a month because their Health Minister was on holiday.
Or is he just a liar? I suppose only time will tell.
