Vaping Legislation Debate
“Vaping is a totally unregulated sector,” said Jim Allister MP last Tuesday during the debate on the second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. He continued by saying “and I fear that it is a gateway to smoking for many young people.” In just 16 seconds he perfectly summed up his profound ignorance on the subject and why he should have taken no part in deciding vaping legislation.
UK Vaping Regulations
Allister is obviously blissfully unaware of the comprehensive UK Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) arising out of the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which heavily regulates vaping products across Europe. One wonders if he has ever heard of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), let alone being aware that the MHRA must license products before they can be sold and that it has published advice and guidance on the process.
Advertising and Standards
He is no doubt also unaware that The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has produced a thorough set of restrictions on the advertising and marketing of vapes, and that there are British standards for both the hardware and contents of vaping products.
The Myth of Vaping as a Gateway
The lazy myth that vaping must be a gateway to smoking – about as likely as mobile phones leading to an explosion in the use of phone booths – has also been comprehensively debunked.
Debate and Lack of Preparation
Either MPs do not employ researchers anymore, or newly elected Allister didn’t bother to consult with his researchers before bloviating his gibberish in the chamber and proving the old adage, “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” One must hope that the honourable member for North Antrim didn’t scrape his knuckles too harshly on the floor on his way out.
Sadly, he wasn’t alone. During the debate, there were regular and numerous speeches which left those who are knowledgeable of the policy area facepalming at the stupidity or lack of adequate preparation of the MP concerned.
The House's Mood and Misunderstandings
The House seemed in jubilant mood from the outset when talking about the legislation. Wes Streeting (Secretary of State) began the joviality by revealing that the idea of grown adults being checked for ID to confirm whether they were 40 or 41 in the future before being sold cigarettes wasn’t an imposition. Because he himself had recently been asked for his age when buying a bottle of wine and that, maybe, it was the brand of moisturiser he used which was responsible. Cue several other MPs commenting on whether they had been age-checked too and revealing if they used moisturiser or not. What larks!
Flaws in the Bill
MPs seemed to believe this was a bill about which there were no downsides. A perfect law-making exercise to which no sane person could possibly object. Because that was how politicians had been briefed by well-funded NGOs.
What was curious about the debate was a complete lack of any awareness of how dangerous the proposals on vaping are. Mary Glindon (long time supporter of harm reduction) was one of the very few to raise any issues, only to then vote in favour of the bill because the Labour party whipped their MPs so she would have been excommunicated if she didn’t.
Challenges for New MPs
Some working in parliament have commented that it is currently a difficult working environment because of the vast number of brand-new MPs since July’s election. On the BBC’s Daily Politics show in late November, Catherine McKinnell MP remarked that some are struggling to find the chamber to cast their votes in time; parliamentary staff have joked that new MPs can’t even locate the tea room.
Misguided Criticisms
The vacuous comments came thick and fast. Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour MP for Suffolk Coastal) complained that “alongside the decrease in young people taking up smoking… we have seen an increase in young people and children taking up vaping.” She has clearly not considered that the two may be linked and present a public health net win.
Seamus Logan, SNP MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East opined, “I heard what Mary Glindon said about vaping being 95% safer. I am not so sure that the evidence supports that.” He needs to read the 1468 page report by the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities from 2022, the eighth and final of its kind which has repeatedly confirmed this statistic. There is little point of our taxes being spent on evidence reviews if MPs are to ignore them and instead act like chemtrails conspiracy theorists.
Concerns Over Vaping Flavors
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath was concerned that the bill does not “stop the trend of Spice-spiked vapes in schools.” Perhaps it is because they are already illegal, Wera.
Tristan Osborne (Labour MP for Chatham and Aylesford) expressed surprise “that blue razz lemonade, watermelon bubble gum and strawberry raspberry cherry ice are all flavours of vapes” that he concluded could only be targeted at children. Disbelieving, presumably, that someone in their late 50s and sharing the same address as me in a single occupancy house has bought and vaped all of them.
The Comedy of Errors
The dark comedy was relentless. When Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East said he was looking forward to the Smokefree 2030 target being achieved "faster than that" while arguing for a bill which will destroy the potential for alternatives like vapes which have driven huge declines in the past decade or so, many would have split their sides laughing.
Voting Outcome and Implications
The few who voted against the bill did so exclusively because of the freedom of choice threat that a generational age ban presents. Worthy as that is, the ban is a pointless measure which will have no effect until 2027 and will shift no dials on reducing smoking, despite the triumphant hype. The more serious public health danger of restrictions on vaping and other harm reduction products, though, (highlighted by the New Nicotine Alliance in a press release last week) was waved through with very little comment.
And so it was that once the votes had been counted, the bill was supported by 415 MPs and opposed by just 47. As a final insult to evidence-based policymaking, the result was met with laughter from many MPs in the House.
Conclusion
Yes, MPs actually laughed as they threw hard fought for individual adult freedoms and the public health success of vaping down the drain. Then, off they went into the evening, satisfied that they had successfully protected cigarettes from competition by less harmful products, as instructed by unaccountable tax-funded lobbyists.
Maybe some of them then finally managed to find that damned elusive tea room.
Martin Cullip is an International Fellow at The Taxpayers Protection Alliance's Consumer Center and is based in South London, UK.
