As we have a general election on the way I thought it would be good to take a look at the UK Political Parties stance on vaping.
Obviously there are many issues which will influence how you vote in the election, but if vaping regulation is one of them – hopefully this article might help you decide.
As always these promises are just words and we all know that politicians who want to be elected to office make many promises but fail to deliver.
For this information I have visited each party’s own website.
Plus I have also emailed each party to ask for specific vaping policy. I will update as responses arrive – so this article really is a “Work In Progress”!
I have to add the SNP and Liberal Democrats replied within 24 hours!
Conservative
The Conservative Party have published their 2024 manifesto here.
On the subject of vaping it emphasises that it will continue with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which is currently on hold due to the election.
“We will bring forward our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill in our first King’s Speech.”
As I have covered before the tobacco and vapes bill impacts vapers in the following ways…
“Providing powers for the government to regulate:
·The flavours and contents of vapes
·The retail packaging and product requirements of vapes
·The point of sale displays of vapes
·Extending the existing offence to sell a nicotine vaping product to a person who is under the age of 18 to non-nicotine vapes for England and Wales
·Introducing a ban on the free distribution of vapes to under 18s for England and Wales
·Updating the existing vape notification system to align with future regulatory requirements”
Separately the following legislation was in place – due to start in 2025/2026…
·Banning single use (disposable) vapes.
·Vaping Products Duty (Vape Tax).
Labour
According to Labour’s “Child Health Action Plan” they will “Crackdown on smoking & vaping”.
I quote…
“Labour will stop children and young people being exposed to the harmful effects of tobacco and vaping by:
·Legislating for a progressive ban on smoking, so the next generation are not addicted.
·Making all hospital trusts integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care, with a named lead on smoking cessation, so parents have all the support they need to quit.
·Clamping down on underage vaping by banning vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children.”
These points are also echoed in their manifesto…
“That starts with smoking. Labour will ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes and ensure all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care. Labour will ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.”
So it looks like their vaping policy will be along the plain packaging and advertising restriction lines?
Also I have seen several news outlets state that the Labour party still backs the Tobacco and Vapes Bill – but this is not officially in their manifesto? It only mentions the generational cigarette ban and branding / advertising restrictions on vaping.
Like with the other parties I made contact to ask for more specific policy details – I have not received a response but I will update when I get a reply.
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems have published their manifesto here.
In the health section they say…
“Introducing regulations to halt the dangerous use of vapes by children while recognising their role in smoking cessation for adults, and banning the sale of single-use vapes.”
It is not very enlightening – but they specifically mention banning disposable vapes – which is something the current Conservative party have already started to act upon.
I emailed the Lib Dem press office and asked for them to expand on the quote above from the manifesto.
The response is quoted below. (Thank you to Eva for the very prompt reply!)
“Yes, that’s our vape specific policy. Also our policy person has added this line which may be helpful?
– Liberal Democrats would tackle vaping and smoking among children with standardised packaging, advertising restrictions and banning disposable vapes.”
SNP
The SNP (Scottish National Party) haven’t got a manifesto as such yet, just a page with sub sections of their policies which you can access here.
There is nothing specifically about vaping in their policy subsections unfortunately so their stance is unclear.
I have been told that the full manifesto should be published in the coming week.
I emailed their press office to ask them to clarify their position on vape regulation and got the following reply (within 24 hours of sending my email – the reply arrived on a Saturday evening – very impressive!)
“Our manifesto is not yet published – so keep an eye out for this next week.
In the meantime, I hope the below is helpful…
·To target the environmental issues associated with single-use vapes, the Scottish Government agreed with the UK Government, the Welsh Government, and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and rural Affairs in Northern Ireland bring forward a UK-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
·The Bill included new powers to regulate displays, contents, flavours and retail packaging of vapes and nicotine products, allowing restrictions to target flavours marketed at children and to move vapes out of sight of children and away from products like sweets.
·While it is extremely disappointed that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will not progress through UK Parliament at this time, the Scottish Government is committed to continuing these discussions with the incoming UK Government after the election.
·Regulations were also laid in the Scottish Parliament on 10 June 2024 to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes in Scotland. These regulations will come into force from 1 April 2025.
·The Scottish Government were the first government in the UK to commit to taking action on single use vapes and have fulfilled our 2023 Programme for Government commitment to consult on measures to tackle the environmental impact of single-use vapes.”
Excellent much clearer.
But as you can see they still back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and it looks like they want to restrict flavours and packaging.