Stephen's views on the Health Bill (2009)

The high level of smoking prevalence is a priority concern of mine and I believe that young people, particularly children, should be properly protected from the risks of taking up smoking. I was a fervent campaigner for the public smoking ban and won an award from Cancer Research UK for my work on the Health Act of 2006. I strongly support research into further measures that may help to reduce the prevalence of smoking, particularly in areas with high health inequality.

My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I have, for a long time, felt that there is a strong case for banning tobacco vending machines. Extensive evidence shows that these machines are the most common source of cigarettes for people under age, and that restrictions on their use are not working. We have been lobbying the Government to recognise this important issue and so I was very pleased to see that it had been addressed in the Health Bill. In the end, the vending machine ban proved to be non-contentious and was passed with cross party support.

The most contentious anti-smoking provision in the Bill was the proposal to remove cigarettes from public displays in shops. All MPs received representations from cigarette manufacturers and retailers arguing that this was too draconian and an infringement on a legal activity. I met, on two occasions, representatives of Cancer Research UK to hear the counter-argument: that removing cigarettes from view would reduce the take up of smoking. After the House of Commons debate the majority of Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs voted against the proposal. However, as I believe that we should seize every opportunity to drive down the incidence of smoking I voted with the government and was pleased to see the measure passed.

I do not think that we should stop at curtailing legal sales, however, because the increasingly serious issue is tobacco smuggling. According to some estimates, over 20% of cigarettes and 50% of rolling tobacco consumed in the UK has not had UK duty paid on it - this means much lower prices. There is a massive trade in illegally imported tobacco and the current penalties and levels of enforcement are regrettably inadequate. Much more needs to be done to catch tobacco smugglers and ensure that tobacco companies take responsibility for their supply chains and act, as far as possible, as responsible corporate citizens - something which they are failing to do at the moment. Secondly, the issue of criminalising the supply of tobacco to young people must be addressed. For many years, it has been a criminal offence to purchase alcohol for persons under the legal drinking age. The Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment to the Health Bill to make it a crime to purchase tobacco for minors, as we believe that it is vital that the same conditions apply to tobacco products as those which currently apply to alcohol. In previously failing to address this particular aspect of legislation, the Government has ignored a major source of access to tobacco for people aged under eighteen. This amendment was put to the vote on 12th October, and I voted in favour, as did my Liberal Democrat colleagues. Sadly, however, the amendment was rejected as a result of Labour MPs all voting against it and so, despite having strong support for our amendment from the Conservatives, the vote was lost. Lastly on this aspect of tobacco legislation, I believe that laws regarding the sale of tobacco to under-age persons by licensed vendors should be more rigorously enforced, with prosecutions for any shop-keeper who violates these laws.

Finally, we also need to do much more to tackle health inequalities. Smoking is significantly more prevalent in poorer areas of the country and within some ethnic minority communities. We can see this very clearly in Bristol, where smoking rates are close to 10% in Henleaze but over 40% in poorer parts of the city such as Southmead or Lawrence Weston. If we are to truly tackle smoking levels in these communities, much more work will have to be done to improve access to smoking cessation services. This will mean working with communities in places where they already come into contact with public services: information on anti-smoking classes could be delivered in schools, social clubs and job centres. Measures like these can have a real impact, without curtailing the rights of smokers to choose, or of retailers to sell, what is a legal product.

Regarding suggested measures to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products I cannot see this initiative having a significant impact, and I would support the alternative initiatives outlined above as I believe they tackle the more important issues. I believe that this represents a comprehensive and effective evidence based approach to the issue. There is a clear need to balance the rights of the individual with the desire to protect young people from the dangers of smoking, and I believe that my personal votes strike the right balance