Parliament Fears Too
It seems like an age since we last popped down to the House of Commons for a peak at what MPs are saying about vaping – let’s gooooo!
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by Dave Cross
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Justin Madders is the snappily titled Shadow Minister for the Future of Work. He is also the Shadow Minister for Business and Industrial Strategy, but that sounds quite drab in comparison.
He asked the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, “whether she has had recent discussions with e-cigarette manufacturers and local authorities on the environmentally-friendly disposal of e-cigarettes?”
Why does the Secretary of State never answer her own questions? Under-Secretary Rebecca Pow took the honours again.
Personally, I’d like someone to answer all of the questions aimed at me:
- “Dave, what do you want for supper?”
- “The Secretary of State for Playing Computer Games and Drinking has not conducted research into this area but can confirm to the House that he fancies fish and chips,” my assistant would reply.
Rebecca Pow didn’t talk about anyone’s teatime – another serious shortcoming from this Government in my opinion.
She told Madders: “The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with representatives of the vaping industry or local authorities on the environmental impact of electronic cigarettes. DEFRA and environment agency officials are working closely with the vaping industry and waste electricals recycling sector on compliance with legal obligations for the collection and treatment of waste vapes.”
Clearly unhappy he didn’t get any menu tips, Madders fired a question at the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care instead. He asked him, “whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential health risks of e-cigarettes for children?”
Naturally, the Secretary of State was too busy consuming a Pot Noodle or something, so Neil O'Brien responded: “The Department’s assessment of the risk of vaping is based upon a series of evidence reviews commissioned over the past several years. The latest, ‘Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence main findings’, was published in September 2022.
“The report concludes that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free. Nicotine is highly addictive and can be harmful, and there are unanswered questions on the effects of longer-term use.
“The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help adults quit smoking; vapes should not be used by people under 18 or non-smokers.”
Spicy stuff, eh – but not as spicy as a Pot Noodle Bombay Bad Boy I’m sure you’ll agree.
Northampton South’s Andrew Lewer was in no mood for instant snack frippery, asking the Department for Health how much of the £3 million funding for tackling illegal vapes would be winging its way to West Northamptonshire.
Neil O'Brien couldn’t satisfy Lewer with his answer as the allocations haven’t been sorted yet.
Gregory Campbell, the Shadow DUP Spokesperson for International Development, wanted to know what steps the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is taking to discourage underage vaping.
Neil O'Brien (hiding his disappointment of having to answer this question for the umpteenth time this year) replied: “We have regulations in place to discourage underage vaping. The law protects children through restricting sales of vapes to over 18 years old only, limiting nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, labelling requirements and through advertising restrictions.”
Then he repeated the phrase about “the changing circumstances surrounding vapes” that we saw in yesterday’s article.
“In October 2022, we published new content on the potential risks of vaping for young people on the FRANK and Better Health websites and we have provided input to educational resources produced by partners including the PSHE Association. We are also developing a new resource pack for schools on vaping which will be made available by July.”
Labour’s Wes Streeting did discuss snacks though when he spoke to The Times, adding “I’ll tackle vapes for children”.
He told the paper that despite the benefits of vaping, it remained “a harmful product”.
Let’s hope Wes can take time to cogitate over a delivery curry and focus more on the long term benefits of vaping and less playing to the gallery.
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.
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