Plain packaging: Tories are revolting
Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 9:55 On Thursday, following a tweet by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, several newspapers reported that the Cabinet was split on plain packaging.
I can now reveal – from a good source – that the announcement by public health minister Jane Ellison surprised even George Osborne who wasn't consulted.
If that's true it's extraordinary, given how much revenue the Government could potentially lose to illicit traders, not to mention the cost of fighting the tobacco companies in court.
Another source reports that the decision to go ahead with plain packaging was taken by the PM who considers it "feel good politics".
If he believes that he should speak to some of his backbenchers. Nigel Evans, a former Conservative whip, had this to say: Plain packaging for cigarettes is deeply un-Conservative (Breitbart).
And it's not just Conservative MPs who are revolting. Iain Dale, a former Conservative parliamentary candidate and now a presenter on LBC, wrote So you support plain packaging. Call yourself a Conservative? (Conservative Home).
And former Conservative MSP Brian Monteith was so unimpressed he declared: Tories have lost my vote (Edinburgh Evening News).
Feel good politics? Yeah, right.
Reader Comments (3)
Surely George Osborne or the Treasury should have been consulted in order to develop the essential, for any legislation, Regulatory Impact Assessment. Maybe Tobacco Control was in charge of it (again) so real evidence is an inconvenience.
It just shows that policy making in this area has gone from the hands of those we elect to the hands of those hand-picked by ASH and their bigoted Aussie Chums.
I am sick of these fascists ruining this country and abusing law abiding consumers simply because their jobs, salaries, incomes, annual holidays, and reputations depend on it.
#WeSmokeWeVote and the Tories have a shock coming their way in GE2015
Red Tories/Blue Labour - what difference?
It is time for a sizeable earthquake to hit the smoking ban/tobacco control bully state parties.