Leadsom Quits
The Rt Hon. Andrea Leadsom MP has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to inform him that she will not stand as a candidate at the forthcoming election
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by Dave Cross
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The Rt Hon. Andrea Leadsom MP has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to inform him that she will not stand as a candidate at the forthcoming election. Andrea Leadsom campaigned against vapes alongside Jo Churchill MP, and it was hugely disappointing when she was placed in charge of vapes and the government’s approach to tobacco harm reduction. In her short time in office, she managed to offend the industry and vapers, as well as spreading lies and misinformation in the House.
Regardless of who wins the election, Andrea Leadsom will no longer be Minister for Public Health. She told the Prime Minister: “After careful reflection, I have decided not to stand as a candidate at the forthcoming election.
“Since my first days in the House of Commons, I have strived to serve my country, from reforming bank regulation in the wake of the financial crisis, both on the Treasury Committee and as City Minister, to leading the charge to reform of the EU and when that was clearly impossible, to fighting for Brexit and then working as Defra Secretary to publish the first 25 Year Food and Farming, and Environment Plans.
“As Leader of the Commons, I led the creation of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, to make Parliament a place where everyone would be treated with dignity and respect, and I also brought forward legislation for the Restoration and Renewal of the Houses of Parliament. I hope that both will, in time, result in even greater global regard for this iconic home of what is, I believe, the world's greatest democracy.
“In my roles as Energy Minister and then as Business and Energy Secretary of State, we agreed we would take coal out of our energy system entirely, and approved the funding mechanism for Hinckley Point C, as well as major subsidies for offshore wind projects, changing the department's strategic objectives to 'the UK will lead the world in tackling global climate change'.”
Finally, she thanked him for giving her the opportunity as Minister for Start for Life, Primary Care and Public Health.
“Working on rolling out our Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, our dental contract reform, our new support for GPs and our world leading Smoke Free Generation bill have been a great privilege,” she claimed.
Last week, the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) wrote to Leadsom and Sunak about the Minister’s comments on the industry’s suggested licensing scheme. UKVIA stated that Andrea Leadsom’s comments about it were “false and completely inappropriate”.
UKVIA said that the legitimate independent vaping industry “wants to do the right thing and have invested their life savings in helping save the lives of smokers”.
UKVIA’s John Dunne said: “Not only is the rejection of a licensing scheme nonsensical for a number of reasons, it would also appear to be based on a desire to rush through undercooked legislation and a dislike of ‘not invented here’.”
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.
