ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531

ASH Daily News

19 October 2005

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

Not close and no cigar, Clarke out of the race

Smoking ban one step closer in Liverpool

BAT confirms existence of North Korean plant

Gallaher 'disappointed' by NI smoking ban

FULL TEXT

Not close and no cigar, Clarke out of the race

Ken Clarke was eliminated from the contest for Tory Leader in Tuesday's first round with 38 votes. David Davis came first with 62 votes, David Cameron got 56 and Liam Fox 42.

After failing for the third time to gain the leadership of his party, the former chancellor must be considering his future.

The self-described "Big Beast" may well be put out to pasture. Ex-minister Edwina Currie said she expects the vote to be the end of Clarke's political career, the BBC reports.

The silver lining for him, the Mirror points out, is 'that he'll earn more flogging fags to Vietnamese kids for British American Tobacco than he'd be paid as leader of Her Majesty's Disloyal Opposition'.

Source: Guardian, BBC, Financial Times, Times, Mirror, 19 October 2005
Article link: (G) http://tinyurl.com/9ya85: (BBC) http://tinyurl.com/9jool: (FT) http://tinyurl.com/bd8v2 : (T) http://tinyurl.com/8boh5: (M) http://tinyurl.com/b28wc


Smoking ban one step closer in Liverpool

On Monday Councillors in Wirral voted overwhelmingly in favour of supporting a Merseyside Bill that would prohibit smoking in all enclosed workplaces, should the Government's forthcoming Health Bill fail to protect the health of all workers equally. The vote won cross party support, with 60 votes for and only two votes against the motion.

Pippa Sargent, Smoke Free Programme Manager for Heart of Mersey, who has been supporting the Merseyside Bill, said "This is fantastic news for Wirral and Merseyside. Wirral Councillors have taken a bold step towards equal protection of all workers against Secondhand Smoke, and have demonstrated great leadership. I'm pleased to be able to support them in this landmark decision"

Other Councils in Merseyside will now vote on the Merseyside Bill, with Sefton voting on 27th October, Knowsley on 2nd and St Helens on 9th November. The Bill would be deposited at parliament on 28th November. However, this 'local for national' action, which builds on the current Liverpool City Council Bill, is a fall back move and what Merseyside Councils are pressing for in comprehensive national legislation for England.

Source: IC Liverpool, 19 October 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/85jdk
Related link: http://www.heartofmersey.org.uk/
Related link: http://www.smokefreeliverpool.com/


BAT confirms existence of North Korean plant

British American Tobacco confirmed yesterday that it owns a cigarette factory in North Korea but avoided any comment upon human rights issues raised by the Guardian Newspaper's exposé.

In a written response to a story published yesterday in the British daily, the company reported that it co-owns the production plant with a state run firm, the Korea Sogyong Chonyonmul Trading Company. Their joint venture is called Taesong BAT.

BAT owns 60 percent of the North Korean business, the remaining 40 percent belonging to the state company - an identical ratio to BAT's Myanmar firm, Rothmans of Pall Mall Myanmar of which 40 percent was owned by the military regime there.

A spokeswoman at the British Foreign Office in London said the U.K. government is continuing to raise the issue of human rights with the North Korean government.

ASH said: "It seems that there is no regime so awful and no country so repressive that BAT does not want to do business there."

Human Rights Watch describes the Pyongyang regime as being "among the world's most repressive governments," claiming that its leader, Kim Jong Il, "has ruled with an iron fist and a bizarre cult of personality" since the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994.

Source: Korea Herald, 19 October 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/a4zan


Gallaher 'disappointed' by NI smoking ban

Tobacco company 'Gallagher' said today it was disappointed by the announcement of a workplace smoking ban in the North.

The company, which is based in Ballymena, is seeking clarification from the British government on the potential impact on its business.

The firm, whose cigarette brands include Silk Cut and Benson & Hedges, is one of the largest manufacturing employers in Northern Ireland.

It also wants assurances on market research and development for its products carried out in the North.

Source: IOL, 19 October 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/92tts

-------------------------------------
Unsubscribe:

Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------

Michael Fredman
Web Manager
ASH
102 Clifton St
EC2A 4HW

020 7739 5902