Labour MP Slams Anti-Ecig Whingers
Labour MP Slams Anti-Ecig Whingers: Gloria Del Piero MP writes a pro-ecig column for The Sun #vaping #ecigs #vape
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by Dave Cross
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The MP previously took on the Daily Mail when it transpired they had acquired pictures of her posing naked when she was just 15-yrs old. She was among the first MPs to fulfil their pledge to donate the recent pay rise to charity. It is fair to say that she has treated her new role with dignity, been open about previous indiscretions and makes good on her promises. Vapers should welcome the positive stance she has adopted on electronic cigarettes – especially given the actions of members of her party in Europe and Wales towards vaping.
Her opposition to increased regulation on electronic cigarettes first surfaced during Labour’s push to restrict vaping in Wales. Taking to Twitter, Del Piero wrote: “E-Cigarette ban in Wales ... Annoying. Ecigs mean I’ll never hav [sic] real cig again. Wish politicians wld listen 2 @CR_UK.”
Her reasons behind opposing the ban were expanded upon in The Sun. “All my life, politicians have been urging people to stop smoking. Now we finally have a breakthrough, some want to stop it,” she wrote.
“I started smoking cigarettes at 13,” she continues. “Three decades later I would probably still be smoking them because, like millions of others, I couldn’t give up nicotine. But then I found e-cigs. They’re 95 per cent less harmful than normal cigarettes, according to the experts at Health England, which said they could help create ‘the endgame for tobacco’.”
Gloria points out the cost savings to readers, detailing that vaping costs 50p per day in place of the tenner that the average smoker will spend on cigarettes. It boils down to something bigger than a debate about health for her, but is more one about social justice.
She points out that most smokers are on lower incomes and therefore bear a higher and unfair burden of tax on nicotine products. It draws her to pose the question: “so do we let those committed smokers rely on cheap, bootleg fags full of carcinogens and tar, or allow them to buy e-cigs, which importantly are more healthy, legally and cheaply?”
She points out that gateway fears are unfounded and warns against a nanny-state government imposing strict regulations of taxes. “If they propose a tax or a ban instead, I’ll sit in the House of Commons and light up my e-cig in protest — and I wish them good luck trying to put it out!”
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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