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** 28 May 2024
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** UK
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** Opinion: Abandoning the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would betray a generation (#3)
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** Sunak 'disappointed' smoking ban bill did not get through (#7)
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** Isle of Man bans sale of vapes to under-18s (#2)
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** Why are routine and manual workers still the highest smokers? (#1)
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** UK
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** Opinion: Abandoning the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would betray a generation
Writing in politics.co.uk, Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK writes about the importance of the Tobacco and Vapes bill for the younger generation and her disappointment at the prospect of the bill not being passed into law.
Mitchell discusses how after tireless campaigning by Cancer Research UK in favour of the Tobacco and Vapes bill she was “optimistic” for the bill’s success. However, when the general election was called their “hard-won progress on the bill was brought to a grinding halt”.
She states that every child in the UK would have benefitted from this legislation and parents “could rest” knowing that “their children could be free of tobacco products, which will ultimately kill two thirds of users.”
Mitchell goes on to say that smoking has killed an estimated nine million people in the UK since the 1960s, and 150 people a day being diagnosed with cancer as a result of smoking. She cites a recent ASH report which found that smoking costs society around £49 billion per year, which “dwarfs the £11 billion income from taxes on tobacco products.”
Mitchell concludes by urging all political parties to put this legislation as a top priority in their manifestos and once in power, re-introduce the bill to parliament, so that “we can start to reap the benefits of a smokefree future.”
Source: politics.co.uk, 26 May 2024
See also: ASH - New figures show smoking costs billions more than tobacco taxes as consultation on creating a smokefree generation closes ([link removed])
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** Sunak 'disappointed' smoking ban bill did not get through
In an interview with the BBC, Rishi Sunak has said he "stepped up to do something that is bold" over his bid to phase out smoking with the Tobacco and Vapes bill .
However, due to the general election being called, the bill is one of those that did not get debated or voted on, before Parliament closed on Friday. Rish Sunak said he is “disappointed” that the bill will not get passed under his government.
Some bills will fail to make it in time in the so-called wash-up period and it will be up to the next government whether to take action.
Source: BBC News, 24 May 2024
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** Isle of Man bans sale of vapes to under-18s
A ban on the sale of vaping products to anyone aged 18 and under has come into force on the Isle of Man.
The new rules, which bring the island into line with laws introduced in the UK in 2016, also makes it illegal for a person over the age of 18 to buy a minor any vaping product.
Further measures that will ban the public display or advertising of vaping products in any place on the island where under-18s are admitted will apply from 1 September.
Cabinet Office Minister Kate Lord-Brennan said the measures were "an important move for the current and future health of young people".
The Manx government introduced the legislation to the House of Keys in June last year following a public consultation on the issue in December 2022.
The results of that found 73% of respondents favoured the ban on products being sold to under 18s.
The government said the forthcoming ban on the display or advertising of the products will not extend to wholesalers or specialist vaping shops as long as they do not allow persons under 18 to enter.
Ms Lord-Brennan said while it aligned the island with the UK on the sale of the products, it would surpass its legislation "by introducing new point of sale restrictions, meaning that the display and marketing of vapes will be restricted in retailers accessible to children and young people".
Source: BBC News, 27 May 2024
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** Why are routine and manual workers still the highest smokers?
Routine and manual workers are rated the highest smokers out of the socio-economic groups once again and have had the lowest decline overall.
There was however, a general decline in the number of smokers over the last decade, the newest Office for National Statistics (ONS) latest dataset tracking figures from 2014 to 2022 shows.
Routine and manual workers have been the highest socio-economic group of smokers since the beginning of the dataset in 2014 at 29.8% and declined to 22.8% in 2022.
This is a nearly 30% decrease, the smallest percentage decrease out of all groups, although all groups saw a similar decline.
Tracy Parr, Programme Director for the London Tobacco Alliance and Stop Smoking London said: “Almost one million Londoners smoke and they will on average die ten years younger than non-smokers.
“Although smoking rates have fallen in London over the past decade, there are extreme inequalities across individual boroughs and communities, with up to 20% of people living in our poorest boroughs still smoking.
“Therefore, eliminating smoking remains out single biggest opportunity to close the gap in health outcomes and improve people’s quality of life.”
This slow rate of decline in current smokers is paired with routine and manual workers having the lowest number of people who have never smoked before at 55% in 2022, suggesting that smoking is quite ingrained in their lives.
Professor Nigel Sherriff and Doctor Lester Coleman released a study at the University of Brighton into routine and manual workers in 2013 where they found that industries like construction in particular were one of the few where smoking was such a norm.
Whether the construction workers were working indoors or outdoors was significant in their access to smoking areas, as workers outdoors could work whilst smoking whilst inside it had to be a break from their work.
In the ONS database, smokers who rent from a local authority or housing association are consistently the highest group of current smokers, at 26.8% in 2022.
Those who own their homes only have 7.4% of average smokers, which is more than three times less than the other group, and consistently the lowest.
Financial issues and poverty are a reason why those with lower incomes turn to smoking.
In their 2019 report, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said: “Improving social conditions is not, however, a sufficient strategy to reduce smoking prevalence in more disadvantaged groups.
“The specific drivers of smoking uptake and tobacco addiction must also be addressed.”
Source: SW Londoner, 24 May 2024
See also: ONS - Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2022 ([link removed]) | ASH – Health inequalities and Smoking ([link removed])
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