Smokers face ban on open sale of tobacco
MINISTERS are heading for a showdown in the Commons over drastic plans to change how cigarettes are sold in Britain.
Labour wants to ban vending machines in pubs, stop manufacturers selling packs of 10, axe brand logos on packets and force cigarettes to be sold under the counter.
The health crackdown has sparked an angry revolt in Westminster amid fears it could cost corner shops thousands of pounds to implement and fuel a boom in black market sales of tobacco.
Both the Tories’ and Liberal Democrats’ health spokesmen have voiced fears that Labour’s latest health drive could backfire.
Speaking on BBC1’s The Politics Show, Shadow Health Minister Mike Penning and Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb cast doubt on the proposals.
Mr Penning said: “There is no evidence that it will actually stop people smoking and there is a lot of evidence that it will actually destroy local corner shops
and news-agents that are already suffering now.
“It is a legal product – why are we pushing it under the counter? It is not the answer to the problem.”
He also warned that banning packs of 10 would have no effect other than to force smokers to buy packets of 20. Instead he called for a law making it illegal to buy cigarettes on behalf of anyone under 18, a move backed by Labour’s former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
Mr Lamb said he supported the ban on smoking in public places – introduced in July 2007 – but had grave doubts about Labour’s latest proposals.
He said: “It could take sales out of controlled settings, such as shops, and take it into pubs where people are buying their tobacco across the pub table. I have seen it myself – the packs with the foreign writing on.”
Mr Lamb warned the illicit trade in counterfeit cigarettes would mean more people buying poor quality cigarettes. The Department of Health’s own consultation on tobacco control concluded the benefits from banning the open display of cigarettes and forcing them under the counter were “speculative”.
More than 70 MPs have signed a Commons motion warning against the move and arguing it would be better to enforce the current laws where shopkeepers who sell tobacco to children are fined.
Ministers argue that the new rules would stop children and teenagers gaining access to cigarettes.
The DoH has cited research that suggests someone who starts smoking at the age of 15 is three times more likely to die of smoking-related cancer than someone who starts in their late 20s.
Health Minister Dawn Primarolo is due to announce her response to a public consultation on the proposals within three weeks.
