Writing for the online edition of The Spectator today, Conservative MP Jack Rankin declares:
We got a pasting last July. The task that belongs to us few survivors is renewal – rediscovering those conservative principles that have historically made us so successful. A good starting point would be remembering that the Conservative party has traditionally stood for individual liberty, personal responsibility and the free market.
Specifically:
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill flies in the face of all of these principles. Most significantly, it introduces a so-called ‘generational ban’ on tobacco products, depriving anyone born after 1 January 2009 from the joys of a Montecristo No. 2. Shame. Being an MP exposes you to people with some pretty wacky views, but I’ve yet to find an adult who doesn’t know smoking ain’t great for them. In my book, as long as the external healthcare cost socialised onto all of us is covered by duty, the state should mind its own damn business.
To be honest, I would have preferred him to reference the joys of a Marlboro Red or a Players Superking rather than a well known brand of cigar. Nevertheless, it's good to see a Conservative MP push back, even a little bit, although he also concedes (prematurely, in my opinion) that 'that fight, for now, is over'.
Instead Rankin’s primary preoccupation is not the generational ban but opposing the ban on the advertising and promotion of vapes – hence an amendment (to be tabled at the forthcoming report stage) 'that would require the secretary of state to consult on this proposal so we can at least give retailers, consumers and the industry the chance to have their voices heard'.
If his name sounds familiar it’s because Rankin was one of 17 MPs on the Tobacco and Vapes Public Bill Committee who spent the best part of January scrutinising the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. (I mentioned him here several times.)
He and his fellow Conservative MP Sarah Bool were effectively the only opponents of the Bill on the Committee which was dominated by supporters of the Bill, including all eleven Labour MPs, both Lib Dems, and even two of the four Conservatives on the Committee, notably Dr Caroline Johnson, the shadow health minister.
I wrote about Rankin’s jousts with Johnson here (Blue on blue differences on tobacco and vapes highlight Tory divisions), noting that:
It therefore begs the question: what is the Conservative position on the Bill, especially the generational ban? And the answer is: I don’t know. Literally, not a clue.
In opposition, and with only 121 MPs, you might think that every Tory MP would be singing from the same hymn sheet. Instead, the divisions are all too obvious …
Given that Kemi Badenoch voted against the Tobacco and Vapes Bill at second reading it’s clear where the leader of the party stands, but her shadow public health minister appears to be pursuing her own agenda …
Listening to Caroline Johnson it’s that clear she, like many of her colleagues (including Bob Blackman, co-chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health and recently elected chairman of the influential 1922 Committee), supports the type of nanny state policies that are anathema to Jack Rankin, Sarah Bool and others.
How, then, are they in the same party because this is a fundamental difference, not just in policy but political philosophy.
Citing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and the Football Governance Bill (‘Both were borne of a Conservative government, but neither is animated by conservative principle’), Rankin concludes his Spectator article by noting that:
Kemi Badenoch voted against both bills at second reading: rediscovery of our principles is on; renewal beckons.
If only if it were that simple. As I also wrote last month:
I’m a big supporter of Kemi Badenoch and I have no time for the impatient naysayers and critics … but I do hope that what emerges from the current period of reflection is a Conservative Party that reaffirms its neglected commitment to individual freedom and personal responsibility, and reins in MPs who don’t share those values.
Unfortunately, with the likes of Caroline Johnson and Bob Blackman in influential positions within the parliamentary party, there are good reasons to remain pessimistic.
See: The Tobacco Bill shows how we Tories lost our way (Spectator)