Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Baroness Meyer Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Meyer (Con)]

My Lords, there is a real problem about being number 39 to speak in this debate, because other noble Lords have said everything that I am going to say. There is an even bigger problem in that the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, stole my speech. I do not know on how many other issues we would be on the same side, but on this one we are 100%.

Of course we should support smokers to quit, and of course we must discourage young people from ever starting, but I do not believe that this Government’s ban is the answer. As many other noble Lords have said, imagine a 40-year-old going to the shops and buying a pack of cigarettes, which for his friend next to him, who is a day younger, would be doing something criminal. This does not work. It is silly and unfair. It undermines equality before the law. It is discriminatory.

The policy is also impractical. It forces retailers to check birth dates indefinitely, creating confusion and increasing the risk of fraud. Retailers are already under financial stress. The British Retail Consortium reports 2,000 incidents of abuse a day. This ban would make it worse. Many retailers say that they would have to close, leaving communities without vital services.

Meanwhile, the black market is thriving. As we have already heard, UK consumers spend £21 billion on tobacco, including £6.1 billion on illegal products. With legal cigarettes at £16.60 a pack and illicit ones at £3, the incentive is obvious. This is not about saving a few pennies, as the Minister said; it is about saving pounds.

We know where this leads. Operation Machinize exposed hundreds of high-street shops, many of which were barbers, fronting for organised crime, including illegal tobacco. This ban would only strengthen criminal networks.

History also shows that bans do not work. Remember prohibition in the United States in the 1920s. It did not end up stopping drinking; it empowered gangs and created the mafia. In 2021, South Africa’s Covid tobacco ban saw criminals fill the gap, with 93% of smokers switching to illegal sources. In Australia, a similar crackdown led to turf wars and gang violence. Yet the warnings from their law enforcement were ignored by the Public Bill Committee. The lesson is clear: bans do not stop demand; they push it underground. Illegal drugs continue to flourish despite decades of enforcement, because demand drives supply.

I speak as a former smoker. I managed to quit only with the help of Nicorette inhalators, which many noble Lords may have seen me using. A ban would not have stopped me; it was the alternative that did. Smoking rates among young people have fallen, thanks to safer alternatives and effective campaigns. If we are serious about reducing smoking, we should focus essentially on demand and seek a more balanced approach.

The Bill also raises serious constitutional concerns. It gives Ministers sweeping powers, about which many noble Lords have spoken. These include 17 Henry VIII clauses, some allowing the creation of new criminal offences without parliamentary scrutiny. This is executive overreach. No proper impact assessment has been made. Small businesses, retailers and the hospitality sector were excluded from the committee. Even the Government’s own consultation promised targeted restrictions, as opposed to a ban. Does the Minister not agree that raising the legal age to 21—a policy which retailers support—would be a fairer, more enforceable and simpler way to deter children from smoking?

I do not have any more time, but I just want to say that, as a smoker, I think people need to realise that it is a personality trait: you are a smoker, or you are not a smoker. I do not think a ban will solve it.