Britain Wants to Snuff Out Tobacco Money in Sports

Britain’s new Labor Party government shook up organizers of some of the country’s most popular sports Monday with an announcement that it will seek legislation banning sponsorship of sporting events by tobacco companies.

Professional rugby, darts, snooker, Grand Prix auto racing and cricket are all dependent to varying degrees on money from cigarette companies. Indeed, major televised tournaments now bear the names of Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut and Embassy, and virtually all cars in Formula One racing, which is immensely popular here, carry a cigarette brand name.

The tobacco companies receive their only televised publicity from such events.

The new government had announced it will seek to ban what is left of tobacco advertising here, mostly on billboards, but many thought sponsorship agreements would be spared, as they are the main source of funding for many of these sports.

Health Secretary Frank Dobson said the ban will be phased in to allow time for organizers to seek alternative sponsors. “We don’t want to harm these sports, but they must recognize that by helping promote the sales of tobacco, they are harming the health of many of their own sports spectators and viewers. . . .

“I hope that during this process we will be spared the claims by the tobacco industry that their advertising is not designed to promote sales,” Dobson said. “The fact is that the tobacco industry, unique amongst all industries, kills around 120,000 of its own customers every year.”

With a huge majority in the House of Commons after its landslide victory in the May 1 general election, the Labor government should encounter little difficulty enacting its antismoking program. It is also supported by a well-organized and vocal health lobby, which had been pursuing such a blanket ban under the now-ousted Conservatives.

Tobacco Manufacturers Assn. director Clive Turner said the government’s action will not achieve its purpose of reducing consumption. “It isn’t going to make any difference to total consumption,” he told BBC radio. “What it will do is alter the dynamics of our marketplace so that we won’t be able to shift around brand shares and promote brand loyalty. Can you really imagine that a nonsmoker watching a piece of sponsored sport is then going to rush out and start smoking? It’s ludicrous to make such a suggestion.”