The name Rachael Maskell may not be familiar to most of you but give it time.
Two months ago the Labour MP for York Central suggested that councils should introduce speed limits of ten miles an hour in residential areas.
10mph!!
As someone who is struggling to adapt to the 20mph limits that have been adopted in much of central London and other areas around the country, the idea that it should be reduced further - to a speed significantly slower than the average cyclist (15mph) - is hard to bear.
It’s pretty clear that some politicians and campaigners won’t be happy until drivers have been driven off the road completely.
It’s further evidence too that some people are never satisfied. They always want to go one step further, like extending the smoking ban to outdoor areas.
Anyway, I mention Rachael Maskell because her name caught my eye again this week when the Government responded to a series of questions she had tabled in recent weeks about vaping:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ban all vape advertising.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ban vaping in all public indoor spaces.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ban the use of vaping devices in vehicles that contain children.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introduce plain packaging for vaping devices.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to require all vape devices to be sold in plain colour.
That’s a pretty comprehensive list. Who could have predicted it?!
Er, me, and I made it clear time and time again that vaping advocates would be partly responsible - should such measures be introduced - because of their repeated reluctance/refusal to oppose similar anti-smoking policies.
Give the prohibitionists an inch and they won’t even stop at a mile. After smoking, vaping was always going to be targeted, but vaping advocates chose to stick their heads in the sand or, worse, throw smokers under the bus in the hope that it might buy vaping some goodwill.
Fat chance.
Anyway, in a written answer to Rachael Maskell’s questions, Neil O’Brien, the minister for health and social care, responded with a fairly straight bat:
The Government recently ran a call for evidence on youth vaping that explored a range of themes including building regulatory compliance, the appearance and characteristics of vapes, their marketing and promotion, the role of social media, the environmental impact of vapes and the vape market. The call for evidence closed on 6 June.
We are now carefully examining the responses to identify opportunities to reduce youth vaping and we will explore issues such as vape advertising, plain packaging and colours, vaping in public places and the use of vapes in vehicles with children. We will publish our response in early Autumn which will outline our next steps.
I would be surprised if the current Conservative government adopted any of the measures Maskell raises.
Plain packaging is a possibility, but surely ministers and civil servants have far more pressing things to do with their time than impose a policy that will arguably have no significant effect.
(If the Government wants to reduce the number of children vaping it needs to crack down seriously on rogue retailers and criminals who are selling vapes illegally to under 18s.)
Maskell’s questions could however indicate the direction of travel under a future Labour government, hence my concern.
After all, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has already said it will be a “priority” for the next Labour government to reduce smoking and vaping, and if Labour follow the tobacco template nothing can be ruled out.
PS. Amusingly, following the recent local elections, Rachael Maskell wrote:
Power has moved. The country has spoken, rejecting the authoritarian orthodoxy of ruling parties and making Labour the lead party in local government, including here in York.
Oh, the irony (and lack of self awareness) that someone who is advocating 10mph speed limits and significant restrictions on vaping and e-cigarettes should be holding forth about the ‘authoritarian orthodoxy of ruling parties’.
You couldn’t made it up.