The Lord’s Impassioned Speech
Lord Johnson of Lainston has given one of the clearest defences of cigars we have heard in the House of Lords, and the video below is worth your full attention from start to finish.
In a short speech he talks about cigars as freedom, not addiction. He speaks about the occasional cigar making him a better and happier man, and describes his village cigar evenings where people meet every Friday, slow down, share a cigar and talk. For him a proper cigar takes at least an hour, from toasting the foot with care to gently puffing and savouring it, and that time and attention is part of the point. This is about community, reflection and enjoyment, and the video captures that feeling clearly, so the best way to understand his argument is simply to watch it.
What he says in the chamber taps into something many of us already know. A cigar is not a quick product you grab on the way to somewhere else. It is time set aside. It is choosing to be present with flavour, with your own thoughts, and with the people around you. That choice is part of adult freedom.
Cigars also sit inside a culture that has grown over centuries. The farmers, fermenters and rollers who prepare the leaf by hand, the small specialists who run our shops, the lounges and clubs that treat a cigar as a civilised pleasure this is living heritage. Walk into the great cigar streets of London or any serious store around the world and you can feel that history in the room.
That is why the current debate matters. When you blur cigars into the same category as cigarettes you erase all of that craft, ritual and meaning. You ignore the fact that most cigar lovers enjoy them occasionally, slowly and with intent, not as a daily reflex. The speech in the video below is powerful because it stands up for that difference, and for the simple idea that adults should be trusted to enjoy a hand made work of art in peace.
