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** 3 June 2025
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** UK
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** Liverpool parks become smoke and vape-free zones for children (#1)
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** Shropshire NHS body welcomes disposable vapes ban (#2)
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** Opinion: Tobacco industry-linked lobbyist critiques polling showing support for anti-smoking measures (#3)
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** UK cancer survival rates double since 1970s, but challenges remain (#4)
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** Parliamentary Questions
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** Written Questions (#5)
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** UK
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** Liverpool parks become smoke and vape-free zones for children

Liverpool City Council has expanded its Smokefree Play Areas initiative to include vaping, installing new signage in 60 parks across the city. The updated policy aims to protect children from exposure to tobacco smoke and e-cigarette vapour. The article highlights that in environments where smoking is normalised, children are three times more likely to take up the habit. The move forms part of the city's wider Tobacco Control Strategy and comes as the national ban on disposable vapes comes into effect.

Source: Liverpool Express, 3 June 2025
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** Shropshire NHS body welcomes disposable vapes ban

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin has expressed support for the UK government's ban on single-use disposable vapes, citing concerns over rising youth vaping rates and environmental impact. Claire Parker, director of strategy and development at the health body urges further restrictions, particularly on flavoured vapes, which are often marketed to attract younger audiences. Health officials will continue to support vaping as a smoking cessation tool for current smokers but urged non-smokers to not take up the habit.

Source: BBC News, 3 June 2025
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** Opinion: Tobacco industry-linked lobbyist critiques polling showing support for anti-smoking measures

Writing in the Critic, Chris Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the tobacco industry-linked Institute of Economic Affairs complains about polls showing strong public support for tobacco control measures. Snowdon highlights YouGov polling commissioned by ASH – who he describes as a “hateful and vindictive pressure group” – which found that 59% of respondents – or in Chris’s words “misanthropic hermits” – want to see smoking banned outside pubs and restaurants, including in beer gardens.

Snowdon argues these polls reflect a vocal but unrepresentative segment of the population, many of whom don't frequent pubs or smoke. The piece warns against policy driven by majority preferences at the expense of minority rights, stating that “This is the kind of thing John Stuart Mill had in mind when he coined the term “tyranny of the majority” in 1859.”

Source: The Critic, 3 June 2025

See also: ASH - Majority of Public Support Smokefree Generation as New Polling Shows Overwhelming Public Backing for Tougher Action on Tobacco ([link removed]) | Tobacco Tactics - Christopher Snowdon ([link removed])

Editorial note: Author of the opinion piece, Christopher Snowdon, is the Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank with a history of receiving funding from the tobacco industry.
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** UK cancer survival rates double since 1970s, but challenges remain

A new report from Cancer Research UK reveals that the UK's cancer survival rate has doubled since the 1970s, with half of those diagnosed now surviving for at least 10 years. This improvement is attributed to advancements in diagnosis and treatment, including better screening and therapies. However, the report highlights ongoing challenges, such as gender disparities in survival rates and delays in diagnosis and treatment due to NHS pressures. Additionally, the report warns of a potential 30% increase in annual cancer cases by 2040, urging the government to take action to address these issues.

Source: The Guardian, 3 June 2025

See also: Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Cancer in the UK report: Overview 2025 ([link removed])

Editorial note: Media stories covering prevention of ill-health are being included in ASH Daily News because policy change in these areas is indicative of the Government’s position on prevention and their attitudes to harm-causing industries.
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Written Questions

Asked by The Earl of Lindsay, Conservative
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide specific evidence that demonstrates a significant problem with youth initiation or widespread addiction related to handmade cigars, thereby justifying their inclusion in the ban set out in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
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** Asked by The Earl of Lindsay, Conservative
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific evidential basis they have to show the impact of including handmade cigars in the ban set out in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill on youth smoking initiation and reduction in tobacco addiction.
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** Asked by The Earl of Lindsay, Conservative
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the comments from Baroness Merron regarding the five-fold increase in use of non-cigarette tobacco (HL Deb Col 741) what data they have that show the specific contribution that handmade cigars have made to the increase in use of non-cigarette tobacco products.
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** Answered by Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care), Labour
Tobacco is the single most important, entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability, and death in this country, and is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths in the United Kingdom each year. There is no safe level of tobacco consumption. All tobacco products are harmful. We know that the tobacco smoke from cigars leads to the same type of diseases as the smoke from cigarettes.

A paper by Dr Sarah E Jackson, Dr Lion Shahab, and Dr Jamie Brown titled Trends in Exclusive Non-Cigarette Tobacco Smoking in England: A Population Survey 2013–2023 found that there are approximately five times more people exclusively smoking non-cigarette tobacco in England now than there were a decade ago, with the greatest increase seen in young adults. The products include cigars, pipes, shisha, and cigarillos. The data does not provide precise statistics for handmade cigars, and we do not hold the other detailed information on handmade cigars.

Source: Hansard, 2 June 2025
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** Asked by Lee Anderson, Ashfield, Reform UK
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many referrals has HMRC received from local enforcement authorities in relation to the penalty regime introduced through the Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

Answered by James Murray, Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury), Ealing North, Labour
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has received 312 referrals from local enforcement authorities in relation to the penalty regime introduced through the Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

These regulations extended powers to enable Trading Standards to tackle non-compliance with the UK’s Tobacco Track and Trace system, which regulates tobacco at all stages of the supply chain, from manufacture through to retail. Trading Standards can make referrals to HMRC on potential breaches of the law, for HMRC to impose penalties.

Source: Hansard, 3 June 2025
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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.

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