Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Lord Rook Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rook (Lab)]

My Lords, I greatly appreciate the comments of my noble friends and noble Lords across the House. I am particularly grateful for the introduction by my noble friend the Minister.

As someone who has spent a good part of my life working with young people, I support the Bill. In contrast to the noble Lord, Lord Strathcarron, I wish to focus my remarks on the measures that protect children from the physical, psychological, social and financial harms of vaping.

I worked for the Salvation Army as a youth worker in the 1990s. At that time, young people seemed to have less to worry about—and I definitely had more hair. That said, even then, I remember thinking that these children were working with greater challenges than I faced in my own childhood. This was well before the invention of social media, the long-term impact of the Covid pandemic, or the current teenage mental health crisis.

At a time when young people are facing unprecedented challenges, I am glad to support the measures in the Bill that reduce vaping. This is just one more thing that our young people simply can do without right now. In 2023, Sarah Griffin was a normal, fun-loving 12 year-old girl. Her bedroom looked no different from those of thousands of her contemporaries, with a dressing table littered with perfume, make-up and hair products. At first sight, there was nothing unusual to see there. However, those bottles and jars were actually the hiding place for Sarah’s vaping materials. In October 2023, Sarah was admitted to hospital after excessive vaping caused her to collapse her own lung. For four days, Sarah’s mother, who had fought hard but unsuccessfully to free her daughter from the addiction, thought she had lost her child. At the time she entered hospital, Sarah had been finishing off a 4,000-puff vape every few days.

The vaping and tobacco industries present multiple dangers to society and subsequent real dilemmas for public policy. I am grateful for the efforts of the Government, as well as the previous Government and Members of your Lordships’ House, and the collective determination to deal with this dilemma and protect young people through this much-needed legislation.

There are some who wish to raise a different dilemma altogether. For some, the Bill represents a dilemma that is less about the tobacco and vaping industry and more concerned with a choice between protecting human freedom and protecting vulnerable groups. With respect, I think that dilemma is false. As a long- time champion of freedom of speech and freedom of religion or belief, I welcome any discussion in your Lordships’ House of the importance of freedom for a healthy society. I, too, prize the long-fought-for freedoms and hard-won liberties that we enjoy today, but the simple fact is that societies that promote freedom are most often the societies that provide the greatest protections for the vulnerable. The inverse is also the case: in societies where freedom is diminished, the vulnerable are often endangered and exploited.

The idea that we in this House must choose between safeguarding freedom and safeguarding children is a fallacy. These measures do not threaten freedom, but they will increase protections for one of the most precious and vulnerable parts of our population. Currently in this country, teenagers and young adults are the group most likely to become addicted to vaping. In 2024, 18% of 11 to 17 year-olds, almost 1 million children in all, tried vaping and nearly 5% of 11 to 15 year-olds admit to being regular vapers today.

While the NHS has said that vapes can be used to help adults quit smoking, there is no long-term research to demonstrate the potentially harmful effects of long-term use. The jury may be out on the negative impact of vaping on child health but the damage done in other areas is clear for all to see. Teachers report a growing number of young people unable to concentrate. Parents fear their children falling into addiction and lack resources to help them quit. Young people find themselves trapped in addiction and go to dangerous lengths to fund and support a habit.

Where the health of our young people is concerned, far from helping teenagers to quit smoking, vapes are providing a gateway to more harmful and addictive behaviours. Recent research indicates that one in six disposable vapes consumed in the UK contains elements of the drug spice. An honourable friend in the other place informed me only yesterday that a vape shop had been closed down in her constituency. On analysis, the police had found that its vapes consistently included the horse tranquiliser ketamine.

As I mentioned before, some believe that the Bill leaves us on the horns of a dilemma between freedom and protection. I believe the Bill is about freedom. In the words of a previous Conservative Health Minister, Andrea Leadsom, only a few months ago, this Bill is about freedom—“freedom from addiction”. After she had spent four days in a medically induced coma, doctors saved Sarah Griffin’s life. I believe we should support the Bill. In doing so, we will give a life of freedom to the next generation and protect our own future.