Industry warnings unheeded as MPs vote in favour of Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Just 178 Tory MPs voted in favour of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, while more than 100 Conservative MPs abstained.

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch, former PM Liz Truss, who called the ban “unconservative” and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman were among senior Tory MPs who voted against the Bill along with science minister Andrew Griffith, Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker and housing minister Lee Rowley.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting declared it time to consign smoking “to the dustbins of history” and said Labour will give “wholehearted support for the Bill”

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said she understood the concerns of fellow Tories, who claim it is “unconservative” to ban things, but hit back that “there is no liberty in addiction”. “Nicotine robs people of their freedom to choose,” she said. “The vast majority of smokers start when they are young, and three-quarters say that if they could turn back the clock they would not have started. I would argue it is our responsibility, indeed our duty, to protect the next generation and this is what this Bill will do.”

Ahead of the vote, The Tobacco Manufacturer’s Association (TMA) warned that the legislation risks pushing an even larger share of the UK’s tobacco market underground, while Usdaw called on the government to urgently bring forward substantial protections for the shopworkers who have to enforce age-restricted sales.

The Tobacco and Vaping Bill will also restrict colourful, disposable vapes and create new on-the-spot £100 fines for retailers who sell vapes to under-18s.

Dan Marchant, director at the UK online vaping retailer, Vape Club, said: “This is nonsense. There was a huge problem with children smoking for decades.  Cigarettes do not come in a multitude of flavours, yet at a time, kids everywhere wanted to smoke. I strongly disagree with the narrative that the flavours are the primary issue here.

“We do support restricting how the flavours are described to ensure they do not sound appealing to a younger audience (for example, not allowing terms like ‘gummy bear’ or ‘candy floss’ but referring to them by factual flavour names – eg Vanilla, Blueberry, Strawberry Ice etc).

“The truth is adults like flavours. People buy desserts, sweets and chocolate. There is also a huge growth in the flavoured spirit market – eg Gin, Vodka and even Whiskey.

“Once you start to move away from smoking, for a huge percentage of people, you actually realise that the flavour of tobacco isn’t very nice – which is precisely why you don’t get tobacco flavours in anything else, people don’t enjoy it.

“To be successful and to keep away from cigarettes, there are countless studies that show just how important those flavours are to people successfully switching.

“If you ban flavours you instantly create what will be a thriving black market.

“The fact is that teenagers will take risks and they want to emulate adult behaviours, but it is the corrupt traders who are allowing them to buy the products that we should be focusing our anger on – they absolutely must be stopped.”

“Interestingly there are no calls for alcohol to be banned despite youth drinking being much, much more prevalent than vaping.

“So why call to ban a different adult product because some irresponsible retailers are breaking the law? Is it not far more effective to uphold the law instead?”

“We need to be aware that vaping, when used responsibly by adults seeking smoking cessation, has demonstrated efficacy. But the irresponsible actions of some are overshadowing its benefits.

“To address this properly, we need a concerted effort made by law enforcement, regulatory bodies and stakeholders within the vaping community instead of fixating on packaging.”