Mark Daniels: What Freedom2Choose needs is a Joanna Lumley… but then again, don't we all?

"Mark, you'll never be f****** rich," John says to me quite often, "because you're too f****** honest." (You'll have to forgive the swearing, but John does tend to be one of those people who'll stand at the bar unable to string a sentence together without rude words in it. Bless him, he's great fun though.)

He's sort of right, but I think what he's actually referring to is that I'm not very brave. I'm prepared to stand up to authority, I'm not afraid of voicing my opinion or being outspoken (it cost me a job, once, but at least I stood by my beliefs) but I'm not brave enough to blatantly break the rules.

Being naughty is just not in my nature. (Not unless Jennifer Aniston were to lay across the bar, all doe-eyed and flirty, of course. I could be tempted then...)

That's why I admire people like Kerry Fenton, who was prepared - upon presentation of an apparent loophole in the smoking law - to take on the establishment and fight for her right to run her business the way she, and her customers, want it to be run.

That's why I fervently hope, each time I read of a licensee fighting in court to be able to broadcast foreign satellite feeds, that a Judge will rule in his or her favour.

And like them or loathe them, you can't help but admire Fair Pint's recent involvement in bringing the issues of the Beer Tie to the attention of MPs. (Well, it gave them something to think about other than their expenses, didn't it?)

Now Gordon Brown has waded in to the debate, hedging his bets between the corporate pound in tax and the vote of licensees and their customers by asking us to prove to him that bullying is happening. If we can, he assures us, he'll take some action.

That's nice, but unfortunately he seems to have missed the irony of his words, because if Labour's bullying stance towards alcohol hadn't resulted in rising duty costs and draconian legislation such as the smoking ban of two years ago, fewer people would be complaining about the situation they are in at the moment.

I don't agree with Fair Pint that a total abolition of the beer tie is the way forward - as I've said before, I think this would be more of a disaster for many than they realise and wouldn't necessarily guarantee that prices would come down at the pump - but I do agree it needs some tweaking, some reviewing. Not every tie is 'unfair', not every tied licensee is going out of business.

Not all of us can genuinely prove to Gordon that bullying is taking place.

But I do admire their tenacity. Celebrity supporters, the backing of MPs, the attention of the media - these have all culminated in highlighting the fact that some changes do need to be made. And industry organisations, behemoth pubcos, are slowly beginning to listen.

Which leads me to think that if so many believe the smoking ban is the real reason behind why so many pubs are struggling - as is the impression I often get when reading comments to articles on this website - why aren't groups like Freedom2Choose employing the same PR agency that Fair Pint do: taking the same actions, getting celebrity smokers such as Lily Allen to support their campaign, getting the same Parliamentary attention that the Beer Tie is currently getting?

High profile campaigns clearly work - Joanna Lumley created a media frenzy over the Gurkhas that certainly got the attention of the Government - and they relieve some of the brave from having to risk their livelihoods and tight bank balances in order to make their point.

But if such action can't be put in motion, perhaps it truly is time to leave the subject alone. Some of those that have moved on are finally starting to make a living again...