View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** 27 February 2020
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Charities welcome plan for Northern Ireland ban on smoking in cars with children on board (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Bolton wine shop loses licence after illegal tobacco found (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Parliamentary activity
------------------------------------------------------------


** Parliamentary question (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------


** MPs hear Points of Order (#4)
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


**

The Health Minister, Robin Swann, is planning to press ahead with plans to make it illegal to smoke in cars when children are present, to protect the health of children across Northern Ireland. The announcement has been welcomed by cancer charities.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland where it is still legal to expose people under the age of 18 to secondhand smoke while in an enclosed vehicle. Efforts to push through legislation on the matter stalled when the Assembly collapsed in January 2017. However, the Department of Health has said it plans to bring forward draft regulations "in the near future" and could see offenders handed £50 fines.

A Cancer Research UK spokeswoman said: "It's welcome that the Department of Health has brought forward this legislation which will help protect children from the impact of second-hand smoke, which is higher when in an enclosed space like a car.

"Smoking and breathing in second-hand smoke is a major contributor towards the development of lung cancer."

Source: Belfast Telegraph, 27 February 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])


**

A shopkeeper has lost his licence after illicit tobacco was found at his store. St Helens Wines is set to close following the council's decision to revoke the owner's premises licence.

The owner told authorities that he was not responsible for the shop in March 2019 when illicit tobacco products were found by a detection dog. A total of 126 packets of cigarettes and one packet of hand rolling tobacco were seized, some of which had warnings which were not in English and were not in plain packaging. This comes after 47 tobacco products were seized by trading standards officers in January 2019.

Source: Bolton News, 27 February 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed])


** Parliamentary activity
------------------------------------------------------------


**

PQ1: E-cigarettes

Asked by Mr Barry Sheerman, Huddersfield
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the health risks of vaping and e-cigarettes.

Answered by Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
It remains the goal of the Government to maximise the public health opportunities presented by e-cigarettes to reduce smoking while managing any risks. United Kingdom regulated e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, but they are not risk free. Research shows e-cigarettes are effective in helping some smokers to quit.

While experimentation with e-cigarettes is not uncommon among young people, current and regular use remains low. E-cigarettes in the UK are tightly regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (NIP). These regulations aim to reduce the risk of harm to children; to protect against any risk of renormalisation of tobacco use; and to provide assurance on relative safety for users. The regulations include restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising; prevent sale to under 18s; and limit both tank sizes and nicotine content.

We continue to monitor evidence on e-cigarettes. As part of that, we are monitoring youth use closely and will take action, if necessary, to ensure that regular use among children and young people does not increase, and that e-cigarettes do not become a gateway to tobacco use. The Government has a statutory obligation to conduct post implementation reviews of TRPR by May 2021 and NIP later this spring. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review on e-cigarettes will be published next month.

Source: Hansard, 26 February 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Transcript ([link removed])


**

Alex Cunningham, Stockton North
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is timely that Health Ministers are in the Chamber, because there have been two important announcements this week in connection with the dangers of smoking. One was an attempt by a tobacco manufacturer to interfere in the development of public health policy; the other was the projection by Cancer Research UK that the Government would miss their target of reducing adult smoking levels to 5%, and would take a further seven years to reach it. Are you aware, Mr Speaker, whether any Minister from the Department of Health and Social Care is planning to make a statement on that projection, and on the Government’s attitude to tobacco companies trying to muscle in on public health policy?

Mr Speaker
I can assure the hon. Gentleman that no one has been in touch to tell me that any Minister is going to make a statement, but the good news is that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has certainly heard his plea.

Source: Hansard, 26 February 2020
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Transcript ([link removed])
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])

For more information call 020 7404 0242, email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk

ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
6th Floor New House
Hatton Garden
London
EC1N 8JY

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])