The Government finally introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in the Commons today.
After weeks of speculation, the Department of Health and Social Care announced it in a press release embargoed until midnight last night. (See – Smokefree generation one step closer as bill introduced.)
Forest’s response was quoted in full by inews:
“The government has no mandate to ban the sale of tobacco to adults.
“The policy has never featured in a single election manifesto, and less than a year ago the government dismissed the idea as 'too big a departure' and said it wasn't going to pursue it.
"What's changed, apart from Rishi Sunak's increasingly desperate attempts to leave a personal legacy?
“No-one wants children to smoke, but the idea that government should take away people's freedom to choose long after they have grown up is absurd.
“Instead of rushing this vanity project through parliament, the prime minister should include the policy in the Tories’ election manifesto and let the people decide.”
Via the Press Association, an edited version of that quote was reported by the Independent, Daily Express, Daily Mail, plus local and regional newspapers around the country.
We were also quoted on the BBC News website (UK smoking ban for those born after 2009 starts journey into law).
In general though I was surprised by how little coverage the first reading of the Bill received. This, after all, is one of Rishi Sunak’s flagship policies, without which he will leave office with almost nothing to show for his two years as PM.
Instead, reports of the Bill seems to have been marginalised by another story, the results of a new 'landmark' study by scientists at University College London that suggest that e-cigarettes "might not be as harmless as originally thought".
I won't go into the details here. All I'll say is, the headlines are way over the top and represent unnecessary scaremongering. For example:
But wait. According to Dr Ian Walker, executive director of policy at Cancer Research UK, "This study contributes to our understanding of e-cigarettes, but it does not show that e-cigarettes cause cancer" [my emphasis].
Try telling the headline writers!
Thankfully, who better to bring a calm head to the situation than Maria Caulfield, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the DHSC. I didn't see it but according to The Times:
Asked to "look down the lens and tell him", she issued a direct appeal to her husband on Sky News to "stop vaping".
What?!
As a minister in a government that has put vaping at the forefront of its smoke free ambition, isn't she supposed to be persuading smokers to Swap to Stop (ie switch to vaping), not pleading with her nearest and dearest to quit the very thing that helped him stop smoking?
You couldn't make it up!
Full story: Health minister begs husband to stop vaping during live interview (Sky News)