Adam Bienkov from Byline Times says one problem for Liz Truss, in trying to get Tory MPs to oppose the gradual ban on all cigarette sales, is that the move is popular with the public.
A good example of why the Sunak plotters are getting nowhere. The smoking ban is one of the only significant policies the Government has which is actually popular with the public and in particular, Conservative voters. pic.twitter.com/1fzL9VDBuf
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) January 29, 2024
Shares in vaping firms plummet as government confirms disposable vapes to be banned
Shares in vaping firms tumbled this morning as disposable vapes are set to be banned in Britain, PA Media reports. PA says:
Chill Brands saw shares slide by as much as 35% in early trading as a result, while rival business Supreme saw shares drop around 12%.
Chill’s market value had fallen by over £3m, with over £10m knocked off Supreme’s valuation during the morning trading session.
The announcement forms part of the government’s response to its consultation on smoking and vaping, which was launched in October last year.
The ban is expected to come into force at the end of 2024 or the start of 2025.
On Monday, Chill Brands, which makes nicotine-free vapes as well as CBD products, stressed that it is “committed to strict compliance with all relevant laws”.
Callum Sommerton, chief executive officer of Chill, said it will continue to sell its products across UK and US retailers but they are prepared to adjust to rule changes.
He said: “The vaping landscape is constantly evolving, creating opportunities for businesses that are able to navigate the regulatory environment. The Chill brand has gained rapid traction with the support of major retailers, and I am confident that it will continue to do so as we move forward with our plans to launch reusable pod system vapes.
“Chill Brands Group is an agile company, and we are prepared to adjust to any legislation that may be enacted.”
Rival Supreme, which has brands including 88Vape, also saw its shares knocked by the announcement.
The company, which has yet to comment on the latest announcement, said in October that it was “fully supportive of any further legislation in the sector”.
Liz Truss says Sunak’s plan to gradually ban cigarette sales is ‘absurd’ and ‘profoundly unconservative’
Good morning. Two weeks ago Rishi Sunak saw off the Tory rebels wanting him to toughen up the Rwanda bill, last week former cabinet minister Simon Clarke was shouted down by colleagues when he called for a new leader, but the turmoil in the party never really goes away these days, and today Liz Truss, Sunak’s predecessor, is fomenting revolt on another issue.
Truss has delivered a withering attack on Sunak’s proposal to gradually ban the next generations from ever being able to buy cigarettes. She opposed the idea as soon as Sunak announced it at the Conservative party conference last year, but today she has gone further, describing the proposal as “absurd” and “profoundly unconservative”. In a statement she said:
While the state has a duty to protect children from harm, in a free society, adults must be able to make their own choices about their own lives.
Banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or later will create an absurd situation where adults enjoy different rights based on their birthdate.
A Conservative government should not be seeking to extend the nanny state. This will only give succour to those who wish to ban further choices of which they don’t approve.
The newly-elected National government in New Zealand is already reversing the generational tobacco ban proposed by the previous administration.
The government urgently needs to follow suit and reverse this profoundly unconservative policy.
Truss was responding to an announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care saying that, following a consultation, the government intends to go ahead with plans to ban the sale of disposable vapes, to take other steps to halt already-illegal vape sales to children, and to ban cigarette sales permanently for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
The DHSC says legislation to do this (a tobacco and vapes bill was promised in the king’s speech) will be introduced “shortly”.
The DHSC announcement covers England and Wales, but the Scottish government has said that it will do the same, and legislation is also due to cover Northern Ireland too.
Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, has been giving interviews this morning and she has defended the plan to increase the legal age for buying cigarettes by one year every year, so that 14-year-olds never get the chance to buy a cigarette legally.
In response to Truss’s comments, she told BBC Breakfast:
I’m old enough to remember a time when you could walk into a pub and it was filled with smoke and everybody at the time when that was being debated said ‘oh this will never work’. Nowadays of course you would be astonished if somebody tried to spark up a cigarette in a pub or a public facility.
And she told LBC:
I think it’s rather like the debate that we had a decade ago about whether adults should be able to smoke in cars with their children. There was a lot of debate about that. But are we honestly saying now 10-12 years later that we would go back? Of course not.
Labour is supporting the legislation, and so there is no risk of the bill not being passed. But there may be dozens of Tory MPs who agree with Truss, and who might be willing to vote against the government on this. When Atkins was asked on the Today programme if she was confident Conservative MPs would back the bill, she sidestepped the question, saying:
We have the support of mums and dads and smokers across the country. Smokers keep coming up to me saying I wish I’d never taken up smoking.
We will be hearing from Sunak on this later.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Rishi Sunak is on a visit in the north-east of England.
10am: Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary and former Cabinet Office minister, gives evidence to the UK Covid inquiry in Edinburgh. (During Covid, he was the UK minister in charge of liaising with the devolved administrations.)
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Morning: Keir Starmer is visiting a branch of Iceland in the north-west of England. The Iceland boss, Richard Walker, a former Tory donor, has used an article for the Guardian to endorse Labour.
After 3pm: Peer begin debating the second reading of the safety of Rwanda (immigration and asylum bill). More than 70 peers are on the list to speak.
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