Revealed: how Sunak dropped smoking ban amid industry campaign including legal threats and charm offensive from tobacco firms

5 comments

1. Better regulation:

   *Rishi Sunak abandoned his “legacy” policy to ban smoking for future generations amid a backlash from the tobacco industry in the form of legal threats, lobbying and a charm offensive aimed at Conservative MPs, an investigation reveals.*

   *Documents and freedom of information requests reveal how four of the world’s largest tobacco firms – the UK’s Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco (BAT), Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and US-headquartered Philip Morris International (PMI) – put ministers on notice of a legal backlash.*

   *Imperial and BAT wrote to the health secretary, Victoria Atkins, in February, to claim the consultation process preceding legislation was “unlawful” because industry views had not been considered.*

   *The Department of Health and Social Care has said it did not need to consider industry views, pointing to guidance included in a World Health Organization global treaty, signed by the UK, that says governments should form smoking policy without influence from cigarette companies.*

   *The legal threats came after the industry opposed the legislation in its submissions to the consultation, despite claiming publicly that they wanted to phase out cigarettes.*

    

   *As the government pressed ahead with its plans despite opposition, tobacco firms courted rightwing and libertarian Tory MPs.*

   *In January, three months after Sunak announced his policy on smoking, the then Clacton MP, Giles Watling, attended a “business lunch” with officials from JTI. Two months later, he went to the company’s annual party at the British Museum in London. In May, he proposed an amendment that would have replaced Sunak’s proposals with a new minimum age of 21.*

   *Other MPs targeted by the tobacco industry included the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch. […] Two Conservative MPs, including Badenoch’s closest political aide, also attended a lunch and drinks reception hosted by the smoking lobby group Forest, days before the tobacco bill was in effect shelved.*

   *The government also came under pressure from rightwing thinktanks funded by the tobacco industry during the consultation process.*

   *In total, there were 307 responses in which the respondent disclosed ties to the tobacco industry, including from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Adam Smith Institute. Both have received funding from JTI, while the IEA has also received money from Imperial and BAT.*

2. > Rishi Sunak abandoned his “legacy” policy to ban smoking for future generations amid a backlash from the tobacco industry in the form of legal threats, lobbying and a charm offensive aimed at Conservative MPs, an investigation reveals.

   > The UK had been on course to become the first country to ban smoking for future generations, via the tobacco and vaping bill, which Downing Street hoped would help define Sunak’s place in British political history.

   This is disgusting. Like cmon how corrupt do you have to be and how much value have you put on your own ethics? I’m fuming!!

3. Look forward to Labour implementing this immediately then 😉

4. The charm offensive from tobacco firms involved leaning back on a Cadillac, wearing shades whilst smoking. They also tucked the cigarette packet into the sleeve of their tight t shirt

5. It’s ludicrous to ban it when education was working.

   I suspect he thought this was an easy goal since the younger generation aren’t taking up cigarettes and instead vaping.

   But it’s such a cringe, authoritarian move.