He Who Casts The First Stone, And All That

Simon Clark has today revealed some desperate wriggling from the tobacco control industry as a result of half a million signatures against plain packaging slamming onto Andrew Black's desk last month. All very interesting it is too. I think they're right pissed off that the public had the cheek to oppose them!

It's odd, isn't it, that the same troughers who are usually so condemnatory of the Freedom of Information Act are now tweeting like buggery in celebration of its ability to release hidden documents. By jove, I think they've finally got it!

It did call to mind responses shared with me by fellow jewel robber, Jane120871, via e-mail which I was pleased to receive but didn't recognise the importance of a few weeks ago. You see, if you'd just read today's revelations, you could be forgiven for believing that only the Hands Off Our Packs campaign was employing agencies to gain signatures - something I'm sure the plain packs campaign are very happy about.

However, our Jane was approached by a chugger for plain packs while on a lunch break and, being curious, asked a few questions of the main smokefree bodies. Presumably conscious of the fact that their actions are liable to questioning from we poor saps who are forced to pay for their propaganda, she hit - it seemed to me at the time - a bit of a brick wall.

Here are some of the questions and answers.

How many agency staff are being paid out of your funds to collect signatures for this campaign?

An external Agency is commissioned to carry out this work and therefore we do not hold all the information needed to determine this.

How many man hours have you paid to agency staff to collect signatures for this campaign?

An external Agency is commissioned to carry out this work and therefore we do not hold all the information needed to determine this.

How many agency staff are being paid out of your funds to collect signatures for this campaign.

We fund this public engagement activity and related events through an agency and as a result we don’t hold this exact information.

How many man hours have you paid to agency staff to collect signatures for this campaign.

We fund this activity and related events through a contract with an agency and as a result we don’t hold this exact information.

I think you get the idea.

Fresh (North East) were a little more forthcoming, but not by much.

How many agency staff are being paid out of your funds to collect signatures for this campaign?

Answer: There are two agency workers collecting signatures for this campaign.

How many man hours have you paid to agency staff to collect signatures for this campaign?

Answer: Fresh have not engaged with an agency on an hourly basis so we do not have access to this specific information.

Do you reckon, like I did, that they didn't want to tell Jane anything?

It gets worse when she asked about how much these state-funded bodies were paying out of our taxes for obtaining signatures. They apparently didn't have a scooby! (well, apart from Fresh again, perhaps they didn't read the memo).

What hourly rate of pay has been paid to agency staff to collect signatures for this campaign?

We do not hold this information, which is determined by the Agency we commission.

What hourly rate of pay has been paid to agency staff to collect signatures for this campaign.

We pay a fee to a marketing agency who then determines its own staff’s wages – we don’t hold this information.

What hourly rate of pay has been paid to agency staff to collect signatures for this campaign?

Answer: Two agencies have supplied one member of staff each. One agency pays its member of staff £10 per hour however the other agency does not wish to disclose how much is paid to their member of staff. Therefore, we are unable to provide cost details for this section of your request on the grounds that this information is commercially sensitive which has been withheld pursuant to Section 43 of the Act.

Jane, as all good citizens should do, submitted a follow-up to this apparent lack of knowledge as to how much had been paid out to plain packs chuggers by state bodies who should be acutely aware of what they are spending. That was dodged too.

You say that you do not hold this information but it is surprising that you do not know what you were receiving for your payments. Please detail which agencies have been contracted to acquire signatures and on what terms they have been employed.

As already stated, Bray Leino manage this process on our behalf and liaise directly with the other agencies involved. We do not have such contracts in our possession.

It begs the obvious question as to how much, exactly, was paid to Bray Leino for the specific purpose so if you're reading this Jane ... ahem. I'd ask myself but they do tend to throw such a tizz, so they do.

The insinuation in correspondence released by the Department of Health is that the Hands Off Our Packs campaign were lax in their control over the signature gatherers. In fact, here is it in black and white from the Department of Health's Tobacco Programme Manager (Andrew Black).


A bit rich, isn't it? His own side are so out of touch with the goings-on at their chosen agencies that they don't even know how much is being paid per hour! How can they have patrolled who signed and who didn't when they have washed their hands of all responsibility, instead delegating it to a profit-making agency with a vested interest? (yes, Bray Leino were the agency chosen to receive the tax money the government lobbied itself with).

And just to round this off with an ironic twist, Black seems to put conditions on the Hands Off Our Packs signatures being accepted. You see, he wants to know all the same information the smokefree bodies claim they didn't have an inkling about, or else he'll scratch all signatures which object.


Now, I'm sceptical as to whether he issued the same rigorous demands to Smokefree South West and their coat-tail hangers. What do you think?

Aww come on, it's a serious question, why are you doubled up laughing?