Tobacco industry sponsorship in House Magazine calendar

Written by Liz Lynne and published in Letter to Lord Rooker on Wed 4th Dec 2002

Rt Hon Lord Rooker, Minister of State for Housing and Planning

26 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH

4 December 2002

Yesterday my office received a complementary 2003 calendar from the House Magazine, featuring photographs by parliamentarians. I was disappointed to note that the page with your photograph "Classics at the Lords" was sponsored by the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association.

In light of this, I am writing to ask if you could clarify two things for me:

1. When you agreed for your photograph to be used for the calendar, were you aware that the page would be sponsored by the TMA?

2. In light of the government's welcome strong stance against tobacco advertising, a move that the TMA has consistently opposed, will you now publicly disassociate yourself from this publication?

Each year, 120,000 people in the UK die of tobacco-related diseases, yet the tobacco companies the TMA represents have denied all responsibility. I hope that, as a government minister, in the interests of avoiding the perception that your name is being used to grant the tobacco industry undue legitimacy, you will make it clear that you do not wish to be associated with the TMA and ask the House Magazine to publish a statement to this effect.

Liz Lynne MEP