Labour’s Bill Briefing Notes

The Briefing notes for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill goes as follows:

Tobacco and Vapes Bill Top Lines 

• This bill will deliver a world-leading landmark smoking ban to stop the cycle of addiction and protect children. 
• This government is taking bold action to create the first smoke-free generation, clampdown on kids getting hooked on nicotine through vapes, and protect children and vulnerable people from the harms of second-hand smoke. 
• Unless we act to help people stay healthy, the rising tide of ill health in our society threatens to overwhelm and bankrupt our NHS. Prevention is better than cure. 
• Labour is committed to protecting children from becoming hooked on vaping, through a ban on vape advertising and sale of vapes in vending machines, in addition to restricting vape flavours, packaging and shop display. 
• Smoking is still the biggest killer. It claims around 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS, and costs taxpayers billions. 
• Smoking costs the NHS £3.1 billion pounds a year. The cost of smoking to our economy is even greater, £18.3 billion lost in productivity every year, with smokers a third more likely to be off work sick. 
• This bill will extend indoor smoking ban to certain outdoor settings such as playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals, to protect children and the most vulnerable

Health and Social Care Top Lines

• The fundamental promise of the NHS, that it will be there for us when we need it, has been broken. Broken by a decade of underinvestment; by a disastrous Tory top-down reorganisation; and by ditching the reforms made by the last Labour Government.
• Over 14 years, the Conservatives have taken the golden inheritance left by the last Labour government and wrecked it, with waiting lists at record highs and patient satisfaction at a record low – leaving millions of people waiting in pain. 
• One of our first acts was to ask Lord Darzi to produce an honest report on the state of our health service after 14 years of Conservative mismanagement. His findings should shock us all: the NHS has not been able to meet its promises to treat patients on time for almost a decade; patients have never been more dissatisfied with the service they receive; waiting lists for mental health and community services have surged; 50 years of progress on cardiovascular disease is going into reverse; and cancer is more likely to be a death sentence for NHS patients than for patients in other countries. We clearly have a long road ahead.
• But while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. We will turn the NHS around so it is there for you when you need it, once again.
• Working with staff and patients we will develop a ten-year plan. The ten year plan will consider how we make the three big shifts our NHS needs - from analogue to digital, from hospital to community, and from sickness to prevention.
• It will take time, but Labour has turned the NHS around before, and we will do it again.
• We will always defend our NHS as a public service, free at the point of use, so whenever you fall ill, you never have to worry about the bill.
• Alongside our 10-year plan for change and modernisation of the NHS, Labour will deliver a long-term plan for reform of adult social care and deliver the National Care Service that ensures people can live active and fulfilling lives in the places and communities they call home.

Background 

Smoking

• Today is an important step towards our aim to create the first smoke free generation.
• Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health in our country. It is responsible for one in four of all cancer deaths and kills up to two thirds of its users.
• Smoking still claims around 80,000 lives a year in the UK, putting huge pressure on our NHS, taking up appointments, scans and operations. It costs taxpayers £3.1 billion a year.
• The Government’s plans to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes, so no one born on or after 1 January 2009 can ever be legally sold cigarettes.
• The cost of smoking to the economy is £18 billion lost in productivity every year, as smokers are a third more likely to be off work sick.
• Tobacco is a uniquely harmful product, responsible for a quarter of all cancer deaths and killing up to two-thirds of its long-term users. Smoking substantially increases the risk of many major health conditions, such as strokes, diabetes, heart disease, still birth, dementia and asthma.
• Almost every minute, someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking. Up to 75,000GP appointments can be attributed to smoking each month - over 100 every hour.
• There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. This is particularly true for children - whose lungs and immune system aren’t as well developed as adults - as well as pregnant women and those with pre-existing health conditions.
• No smoker wants to harm people, but with second hand smoke, they do, and the only way to stop that is to stop smoking around others. 88% of the public are non smokers. There is no safe level of exposure to smoke. If you can smell cigarette smoke you are inhaling it.
• The Government will be given powers to extend indoor smoking ban to certain outdoor settings such as playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals, to protect children and the most vulnerable.

Vaping

• Vapes can be an effective way for adult smokers to quit smoking. However, it is never recommended for children and carries risks of future harm and addiction.
• The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will stop vapes and other consumer nicotine products from being deliberately branded and advertised to appeal to children. These measures will help to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.
• Selling nicotine vapes to under 18s is illegal, yet due to the branding and advertising of vapes to children, youth vaping has more than doubled in the last five years, and one in four 11-15 year olds have tried vaping in 2023.
• Due to nicotine content and the unknown long term harms, vapes and nicotine products can carry risk of harm and addiction. This is particularly acute for adolescents whose brains are still developing.
• The Bill will mean in a total ban on vape advertising and sponsorship which will include displays that will likely be seen by children and young people such as on buses, in cinemas, and in shop windows, bringing this in line with current tobacco restrictions.
• Subject to consultation, the sale of vape flavours that overtly appeal to children – such as bubble gum, gummy bear and cotton candy – could be brought to an end, alongside restrictions on vape packaging that is designed to appeal to young people.
• All vaping and nicotine products will be banned from being sold to under 18s – closing loopholes on non-nicotine vapes and nicotine pouches. Vapes will also be banned in vending machines, where they can be easily accessed by children. The free distribution of these products will also be banned.

Suggested MP interventions on Government 

1. Does the Minister share my hope that creating a smoke-free generation can command the support of all sides of this House and that support from the Opposition front bench sustains despite the arrival of a new leader? 
2. Almost every minute, someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking and up to 75,000 GP appointments can be attributed to smoking each month. Does the Minister agree with me that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is a perfect example of this Government’s belief that prevention is better than cure?
3. I’ve been speaking to Primary school head teachers in [constituency] who have shared with me that children as young as 9 have taken up vaping. Does the Minister agree with me that it is high time that we cracked down on brightly coloured, fruit flavoured, cheaply available vapes being marketed at our children?
4. Does the Minister agree with me that Blue Raspberry, Bubblegum and Blueberry should remain as flavours of children’s sweets - in moderation of course! - rather than flavours of children’s vapes being targeted at them as they walk home from school?
5. Ten years after the smoking ban, there were 1.9 million fewer smokers in the UK. Does the Minister agree with me that this shows the kind of difference that we can help make by voting in support in the lobbies tonight?
6. This Government believes that prevention is better than cure. Does the Minister agree with me that unless we act to help people stay healthy, the rising tide of ill health in our society threatens to overwhelm and bankrupt our NHS?
7. Does the Minister share my pride that we have the chance to vote through reforms that are world-leading, phasing out smoking, protecting the public, protecting the NHS and protecting the economy, putting us on track to a smoke-free UK?
8. I congratulate the Minister on bringing forward these proposals. Does he agree with me that measures like this are exactly what the Government has promised: focusing on prevention as one of three big shifts for our NHS?
9. Tobacco is a uniquely harmful product, responsible for 1 in 4 of all cancer deaths and killing up to two-thirds of its long-term users. Can the Minister confirm what support will be offered to current smokers to quit?
10. In the election campaign, I promised my constituents that I would focus on preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers and support people to live longer, healthier lives. Does the Minister agree with me that that is exactly what these proposals deliver?

Suggested interventions on Opposition

1. When similar issues were last debated in the House before the election, half of the now Shadow Cabinet voted in favour of them. Can the Honourable Member reassure me that the opportunity to create the first smoke-free generation will come before any temptation to play party politics for his/her colleagues on the opposition frontbench?
2. Few of us look back with fondness to a time when everyone’s skin, hair and clothes smelt of cigarette smoke. Does the Honourable Member agree with me that what might seem radical to some on his/her side right now will not seem so in time to come?
3. On behalf of worried Mums and Dads across the country, does the Honourable Member agree with me that it is high time that we cracked down on brightly coloured, fruit flavoured, cheaply available vapes being marketed at our children?
4. Does the Honourable Member agree with me that Blue Raspberry, Bubblegum and Blueberry should remain as flavours of children’s sweets - in moderation of course! -rather than flavours of children’s vapes being targeted at them as they walk home from school?
5. Is the Honourable Member aware that a quarter of 11-15 year olds tried vaping in 2023 and do they think that is acceptable?
6. Does the Honourable Member accept that tobacco is a uniquely harmful product, responsible for 1 in all 4 cancer deaths and killing up to two-thirds of its long-term users?
7. Does the Honourable Member agree with me that vulnerable patients outside a hospital and kids in a children’s playground should not be exposed to the harms of second-hand smoke?
8. Does the Honourable Member share my concern that the majority of smokers start before the age of 20 and are then addicted for life?
9. Is the Honourable Member aware that less than 17% of smokers state that they want to continue smoking and does he/she agree with me that these proposals would help future would-be-smokers in that position?
10. This side of the House believes that prevention is better than cure. Does the Honourable Member agree with me that unless we act to help people stay healthy, the rising tide of ill health in our society threatens to overwhelm and bankrupt our NHS?

It is deeply troubling that the Government, like the one before, is veering away from evidence-based policy making and pursuing a course rooted in the misrepresentation of evidence for ideological ends. The clear outcome of this will be to make successful stop smoking products less attractive, more expensive, and more difficult to source – in turn, feeding a black market that is already out of control.

The government needs to listen to the experts.

Professor Caitlin Notley commented: “It is very important that smokefree legislation does not include vaping. Vaping is a harm reduction approach for adult smokers trying to quit smoking. 

“Policies that deal with smoking and vaping in the same way send a very confusing message. In our smoking cessation trial in hospital emergency departments, patients found it easier to switch to vaping in contexts where they were supported to do so, such as smoke-free but ‘vape friendly’ NHS sites.

“Through our work we know that young people can easily get hold of illicit black-market products – a ban may fuel black-market sales, which is a real concern as we have no control over unregulated products. 

“Banning products may also confuse people about relative harms. We have to focus on the immense harms to health caused by tobacco smoking and avoid putting people off switching to less harmful alternatives, such as vaping.”

Photo Credit:

• Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash, cropped, resized, coloured

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.