Red-Hot Parliamentary Action

Jim Shannon is the DUP Shadow Spokesperson for Health. Did you know that his name only rhymes with salmon, gammon, and canon? Come for the politics, stay for the fantastic facts. Shannon asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what assessment has been made of the use of disposables by teens and any potential health impact.

Punch the air in joy now as Andrea Leadsom responds: “Vaping is never recommended for children and carries the risk of future harm and addiction. The active ingredient in most vapes, apart from nicotine-free vapes, is nicotine which, when inhaled, is a highly addictive drug. Evidence suggests that the brain in adolescence is more sensitive to the effects of nicotine, so there could be additional risks for young people. The long-term health harms of colours and flavours when inhaled are unknown, but they are certainly very unlikely to be beneficial.”

She likes this position, it’s the one she used when she supported the private member’s Bill to ban disposables before she took on her job in the Department. Leadsom is so scientifically literate she had to ask if climate change was real when appointed as an energy minister. The evidence regarding the danger nicotine poses results from a single rodent study. 

“The Department does not hold data on the prevalence of the use of disposable vapes by people under the age of 18 years old,” she continued, preferring to point to a highly dubious figure of “85.7% of 11 to 16 year olds in Northern Ireland”.

Conservative Adam Afriyie holds a much more informed opinion about vaping. The Windsor MP asked the Health Secretary whether the Department has had discussions with the UK Vaping Industry Association on its proposals for a vape retail licence.

We know that Andrea Leadsom hates the idea of doing things that might work. Neither the Department or Leadsom have held discussions with UKVIA about a retail license scheme.

“There are no current plans to introduce a licensing scheme,” she repeated.

*See here for UKVIA’s position on a “robust licencing scheme”.

Adam Afriyie then asked what estimate the Department has made of the number of non-compliant vapes sold in the UK.

Leadsom delivered a 146-word response when she could’ve limited it to: “2.1 million illicit vapes were seized across England by Trading Standards between 2022 to 2023.” She doesn’t have a clue what the size of the black market is, and she doesn’t appear to care.

Afriyie then asked her how much extra each local authority trading standards department will get to enforce the ban on disposables.

Leadsom spoke about the promised £30 million, but then she slipped in that it will be split by all enforcement agencies with two thirds planned for HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force activity to clamp down on illicit tobacco imports at the border - £100 million from the £150 million over the next five years.

The most recent estimate (2019) conducted by the Chartered Trading Standards institute says that there are approximately 197 Trading Standards departments. Even if they get all of the residual funding, this equates to just around £50,000 per department – enough for one officer. The reality is they will receive less than that, not even slightly addressing the impact of continual budget cuts – rendering Trading Standards unable to cope with a booming black market.

Julian Knight MP asked The Exchequer if an impact assessment has been made for the vape tax.

“There is no legal requirement to publish Equalities Impact Assessments,” said Exchequer Secretary Gareth Davies. So, that’s a ‘no’ then.

Finally, Labour’s Rachael Maskell wondered about “the potential merits of taking steps to create a vape-free generation”. Rachael must have missed the memo about vaping helping to create a smoke-free generation.

Andrea Leadsom of all people reminded her that smoking is the most dangerous product legally sold in shops. 

A vape-free generation? OK, not so much red-hot parliamentary action, more ice cold and stupid. 

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.