Further to this morning's announcement by Andy Burnham that Labour will introduce plain packaging "immediately" ...
I was reminded of a letter written by Burnham, when he was Secretary of State for Health, to fellow Labour MP Tessa Jowell. Dated November 9, 2009, it read:
Dear Tessa,
Thank you for your letter of 12 October enclosing an example of correspondence you have received from a number of your constituents about tobacco legislation ...
The Government is committed to protecting children from the harms of smoking and to supporting people who smoke, to quit. We intend to publish a new comprehensive strategy for tobacco control before the end of this year, following our Consultation on the future of tobacco control, which received almost 100,000 responses …
The tobacco consultation also raised the question of having plain packaging on tobacco products. There is some evidence to suggest that packaging may increase brand awareness among young people, and may mislead people about the relative safety of different tobacco products. However, as yet, no studies have shown that introducing plain packaging of tobacco would cut the number of young people smoking or enable people who want to quit, to do so.
Given the impact that plain packaging will have on intellectual property rights, we would need strong and convincing evidence showing the health benefits of this policy before it would be acceptable at international level.
Of course the existence of Burnham's letter is nothing new. We've known about it for a long time and Guido linked to it in July 2013.
What's interesting is the fact that the page on Tessa Jowell’s website where the letter was previously available online has miraculously disappeared (to save Burnham's blushes perhaps?).
Click here and you'll see what I mean.
Thankfully I have a copy of the two-page letter which you can download here.
Update: Guido has added his own link to Burnham's letter here. No idea who that "co-conspirator shrouded in smoke" is!