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


** 13 November 2023
------------------------------------------------------------


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


** Comment: Proposed smoking ban would improve UK public health – but tobacco industry opposition could be a major roadblock (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Cancer, prevention and learning disabilities set for ‘sensible’ budget raids (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Head Teacher fears “a child could die due to illegal drugs in vapes” (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Harborough’s MP quits government ministerial role (#4)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Liz Truss resignation honour list: champion of ‘mini-budget’ denied peerage (#5)
------------------------------------------------------------


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


** Comment: Proposed smoking ban would improve UK public health – but tobacco industry opposition could be a major roadblock

Phil Chamberlain, Deputy Director of the Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath and Allen Gallagher Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Health, University of Bath discuss tobacco tactics in this comment piece for The Conversation.

They note that of all of the measured outlined by King Charles III in his speech last Tuesday, perhaps the most notable was plans to introduce a so-called “generational” smoking ban. Such a ban would see current legal smokers unaffected but, if the legislation came into force, would mean that from 2027 anyone aged 14 or under will never be able to legally buy a cigarette.

The authors reference Prime minister Rishi Sunak claims that the smokefree generation policy would save the £17 billion per year and reduce pressure on the NHS, considering 25%-31% of all hospital admissions over the past decade can be attributable to smoking.

Accordingly, the authors note that the smoking ban could have many potential economic and public health benefits. However, they remind us that the ban is not yet set in stone and that the tobacco industry will likely do all that they can to prevent the policy from passing into legislation.

They recall that for years the tobacco industry has opposed virtually every tobacco control policy that has been proposed which includes smoke-free public places and standardised tobacco packaging.

Considering this, it should come as “no surprise” then that the industry could become a “major roadblock” in the pathway to enacting the smoking ban.

Research by the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, of which the authors are members, has highlighted the techniques often used by the industry to undermine tobacco control measures, including spreading false narratives about the effect such policies will have on society and the economy. This strategy involves including producing skewed evidence, sometimes by third parties with undisclosed industry links, and bringing forward litigation. The industry has denied such allegations.

Industry arguments have already appeared in UK media following coverage of the government’s plans. The authors give the example of Forest, a smoker’s rights group which receives funding from tobacco companies, who have been quoted in one UK publication, referring to the proposal as “desperate” and stating that it “won’t work”. Their industry links weren’t mentioned in the article.

The authors conclude that “It’s crucial that any industry attempts to delay, weaken, or scrap the policy are strongly resisted”. They suggest that this may be achieved by re stating the importance of adherence to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – an international treaty signed by the UK which requires health policy be protected from the vested interest of the tobacco industry.

“There’s also a role to be played by the media to ensure transparency and full disclosure in their coverage of the policy so that when industry-affiliated voices comment, they are clearly identified as such.”

Source: The Conversation, 10 November 2023

------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** Cancer, prevention and learning disabilities set for ‘sensible’ budget raids
------------------------------------------------------------


**
Local leaders will be permitted to cut spending on the development of cancer, prevention, learning disabilities and autism services, as they bid to deliver their financial plans this year, HSJ understands.

NHS England told finance directors yesterday that “sensible” underspends can be used to support bottom lines, subject to central sign-off.

It comes as local systems have fallen badly behind their financial plans, and the Treasury only agreed minimal levels of extra funding to help offset the impact of strikes and inflation. Other existing central health budgets are also being reprioritised to help offset deficits.
------------------------------------------------------------


** An NHSE presentation yesterday (9 November), seen by HSJ, said systems now had to deliver “at least” their original financial plans. It said some systems that submitted deficits at the start of this year “may be expected to do better than plan”.

It added that underspends on elements of the “service development fund”, which provides ringfenced funding on top of normal allocations for key priority areas, can be used to support their plans.

SDF allocations include budget lines for cancer, children and young people, learning disabilities and autism, and prevention and long-term conditions. None of these were included on a list of protected areas.The SDF is thought to be worth around £2bn nationally, although it is not clear how much has already been spent and how much can now be transferred out. Some local finance chiefs privately admit to already diverting some of the ringfenced funding to meet general pressures.
Areas that will continue to be protected include urgent and emergency care, mental health adult crisis and maternity safety. Other budget lines including primary care initiatives and covid vaccinations will still be ringfenced.

Sarah Walter, director of NHS Confederation’s ICS Network, said: “This is not the situation the NHS wants to be in, but with funding to cover costs incurred due to repeated bouts of industrial action being less than needed, ICBs will be forced to make difficult decisions around where they can make savings"

“Naturally leaders will look first at where services have underspent, but it is inevitable that some patients will see some wider services affected as resources are diverted to protected areas.”

Source: HSJ, 10 November 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Here ([link removed])


** Head Teacher fears “a child could die due to illegal drugs in vapes”

A head teacher is warning that illegal vaping could kill a child, after the collapse of a 12-year-old pupil who had used a vape containing spice - an illegal synthetic drug.

Glyn Potts, from Oldham, told the BBC he feared it would take a tragedy to prompt action to stop children vaping.

High levels of psychoactive cannabis oil and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have also been found in vapes in the area.

The government said it is planning new laws to prevent under-age vaping.

Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England, said it was "deeply shocking to hear of children collapsing from spice contained in vapes",
She said: "We need to be moving faster on this issue, or we risk it spiralling out of control",

"We urgently need tighter restrictions on advertising and flavours of vapes that appeal to children as well as stricter licensing for retailers selling vapes."

In July, a pupil at Mr Potts' school collapsed and had to be admitted to hospital after inhaling a vape containing spice, a laboratory-made drug known for its widespread illegal use in prisons.

"He took one very large inhalation of this vape pen and by the time he got off the bus on the school grounds felt very unwell. By the time he arrived at the school gates he had collapsed on the floor," said Mr Potts. The pupil has now recovered.

Greater Manchester Police, Oldham Council, and Trading Standards are working closely together, but Mr Potts says a national strategy is needed urgently to stop children vaping.

"I think we've got to accept that without the strategy to tackle this, more young people will be at risk."

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it is consulting on measures to crack down on under-age vaping, banning disposable vapes and restricting flavouring and types of packaging. Health officials say vaping remains an option for adult smokers wishing to quit their habit, but it is not a safe choice for children.

Source: BBC News, 12 November 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
Read here ([link removed])


** Harborough’s MP Neil O'Brien quits government ministerial role

Conservative Neil O’Brien has stood down as a junior health minister, saying he wants to focus on constituency work and see more of his family.

Announcing his departure this morning, he said: It’s been a privilege to serve at DHSC. Great ministerial team & spads and some fab officials.

“But with so much going on locally I want to focus 100% on constituency work so have asked to go to back benches. I’m also keen to see more of our two small children.”
Mr O’Brien has been Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care since September last year.

His announcement comes ahead of an expected government re-shuffle by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today, following the sacking of Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Source: Harborough FM, 13 November 2023
------------------------------------------------------------
Read here ([link removed])


** Liz Truss resignation honour list: champion of ‘mini-budget’ denied peerage

The head of a libertarian think tank credited with influencing the policies of Liz Truss’s government has been stopped from receiving a peerage.

Mark Littlewood, the director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), was put forward for a peerage by Truss in her resignation honours list this year.
Littlewood, 51, championed Truss’s mini-budget and was seen by many as having helped to inspire her programme of tax cuts and supply side reforms, dubbed “Trussonomics”.

Truss’s list is now near to being signed off. However, Littlewood is no longer on it and it is understood that his proposed appointment did not pass the vetting process overseen by the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac), which is responsible for assessing and advising the prime minister on the propriety of nominated individuals.

As part of its assessment, Holac considers whether a nominee “is in good standing in the community in general” and with regulators, and whether their “past conduct” risks bringing the upper chamber into disrepute.

Its role is advisory and it does not have the power to block peerages, although Rishi Sunak has suggested previously that he will only nominate peers that have received Holac’s approval.

Holac refused to answer questions about Littlewood or Truss’s resignation list. However, a source familiar with its decision said members of Holac had raised concerns about Littlewood relating to previous run-ins between the IEA and the Charity Commission.

In July 2018 the Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into the IEA because of concerns about its political independence, in relation to an IEA report outlining a plan for Brexit.

It later withdrew its warning — while maintaining that the think tank had breached charity law — noting that the IEA had promptly removed the report from its website and complied with the commission’s other guidance.

Source: The Times, 12 November 2023
------------------------------------------------------------



** See also: Tobacco Tactics page on IEA links to the industry ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read here ([link removed])
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])

For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk ([link removed])

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
Unit 2.9, The Foundry
17 Oval Way
London
SE11 5RR

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