World Cancer Day Debate
World Cancer Day took place on February 4th, and parliamentarians spoke about vaping and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill during a discussion of a Parliamentary Statement
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by Dave Cross
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World Cancer Day took place on February 4th, and parliamentarians spoke about vaping and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill during a discussion of a Parliamentary Statement. Andrew Gwynne, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, began the proceedings – unaware that this would be his last activity in post as he was set to become the ex-Parliamentary Under-Secretary.
Andrew Gwynne said: “With permission, I wish to make a statement on the national cancer plan. Today is World Cancer Day. Almost everyone in our country has been affected by cancer, either themselves or through a friend or relative.
“Having lost both my parents to cancer, I am so grateful to the Prime Minister for giving me this job. He has given me the chance of a lifetime to do my parents proud by creating the kind of compassionate and humane healthcare that all our constituents deserve.”
It’s possible that they aren’t so proud now.
He continued: “I am also pleased to be led by a survivor of kidney cancer, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. His experience as a patient will be invaluable to us in the months ahead. I pay tribute to the amazing cancer charities who do fantastic work to help people live with cancer, support bereaved families and drive vital research in this area—Macmillan, Cancer Research UK, Cancer52 and Marie Curie to name just a few.”
Then he touted the forthcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, being introduced to “reduce around 80,000 preventable deaths” and laughably described as “improved” – “putting us on track to a smoke-free UK.”
Critics would argue that the Bill leaves the committee stage with many sections which will actively promote relapsing to smoking.
Labour’s Jim Dickson welcomed Gwynne’s statement. He wanted to know what the Under-Secretary thought the impact of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would have on the fact that smoking causes one in four cancers in this country.
Andrew Gwynne responded: “I am grateful to my hon. Friend for being a member of the Committee for that Bill, which ended its business last Thursday. The hon. Members for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), and for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford), who are sitting on the Opposition Front Bench, were also members of that Committee. My hon. Friend is absolutely right, because the Bill will stop the conveyor belt that the tobacco industry has used to its advantage for decades. We are saying that we will not allow any more children and young people to become addicted to nicotine and tobacco, which, as he says, kills two out of every three users. It is uniquely the most harmful product, and we are making the next generation smoke-free for a reason.”
For Gwynne, the emphasis was always on teen use and not on promoting vaping to adult smokers. With a focus on potentially banning eliquid flavours and adding a punitive tax, will his replacement make a difference and return to evidenced-based legislation?
Photo Credit:
Image generated by author using AI and logo added
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave 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.
