Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Eighth sitting)

Debate between Mary Glindon and Trudy Harrison

Committee stage
Tuesday 14th May 2024 Public Bill Committees

[Trudy Harrison (Copeland) (Con)]

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

I am channelling my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham and her passionate work as a consultant paediatrician or, as she would say, the children’s doctor in the House. I regard her experience highly. As technology evolves, so do our habits. This new clause seeks parity for smoking and vaping, so that the same rules that apply to smoking in public places will also apply to vaping, thereby protecting non-vapers from exposure to harmful substances.

As the Minister put it, we know that vapes are not harmless, but we think that they are less harmful than smoking cigarettes. I acknowledge that there is a lack of evidence—we heard this in the evidence session last week—but I think there is also a lack of research into the evidence on the impacts of vaping. Could the Minister reassure us that evidence will be sought on the impacts of vaping, not just on those who are vaping but those who are in the vicinity of vaping products? We should be trying to prevent the normalisation of vaping products, particularly among children and other impressionable audiences. We have heard much about the principle of polluter pays, which I absolutely agree with, but it is equally important to prevent the pollution and avoid promoting polluting substances to the potential polluter. That was an awful lot of Ps.

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. She makes a strong argument but, on the other hand, Cancer Research says that there is no comparison between passive vaping and passive smoking. I know many former heavy smokers who have given up smoking and now vape, and that is one of the reasons why I am such an ardent supporter of vaping as opposed to smoking. It is awful for those people to have to go outside and stand with smokers. If people are not allowed to vape indoors, there should be a separate area for vapers. Does she not agree that such a situation sends out the message that vaping is dangerous when we need heavy smokers to give up smoking, and vaping is the best way for many of them to do that?

[Trudy Harrison]

I welcome that intervention, but we cannot ignore the trebling of the number of 11 to 17-year-olds who are starting to vape. However much the Minister says that people who are not smoking should not vape, and that no children should be vaping, that is not the reality in the communities that we serve. It is certainly not the reality in my Copeland community. I think the hon. Lady is saying that vaping helps us to fix the problem, but I am equally keen to prevent the problem. The rate at which young people are taking up vaping needs serious consideration, but we also need serious evidence-gathering to understand not only the harms that could be caused by those who are vaping in the vicinity of others, but nicotine addiction.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third sitting)

Debate between Mary Glindon and Trudy Harrison

Committee stage
Wednesday 1st May 2024 Public Bill Committees

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

Q We hope that this really important Bill will prevent future generations from smoking. In your professional opinion, what impact can the Bill have on that stubborn figure of 6.4 million people who currently smoke? What in the Bill can help those people? It is such a high figure; when you describe the kinds of illnesses and what happens to pregnant women who smoke, it is horrifying.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis: Over time, this Bill will lead to the eradication of an addictive condition that causes the immense harm that we have described. But of course, that will occur over time, so it is also important that we continue with a range of other measures to encourage those not immediately impacted by the raising of the age of sale of tobacco products to cease smoking.

We have a number of smoking cessation programmes within the NHS, which was part of our ambition in the long-term plan for the NHS five years ago. We have been rolling out and supporting those services within hospital settings, and we should continue doing that. Of course, local authorities should also continue their work in supporting smoking cessation. Much of that is also targeted at women who are pregnant.

Part of that work is also supporting staff. Smoking rates across the 1.3 million or 1.4 million people employed within the NHS are lower than across the general public, but we nevertheless continue to see NHS staff who smoke. It tends to be in the lower pay grades within the NHS, but of course for all sorts of reasons we would like that rate to come down. Obviously there is the health benefit, but also, as you all know, smoking causes illness, illness causes absenteeism and absenteeism is a cost to the NHS. Although, as I said, we strongly support the Bill, it is important for us within NHS England and the wider NHS to continue to take other measures and put in place other programmes that will assist the public and our own staff to quit cigarettes.

[Trudy Harrison]

Q Thank you both for powerfully and poignantly outlining the preventable impacts of smoking-related disease and illness on adults. I want to ask about pregnant women. In Cumbria, 12.3% of women at the point of giving birth say that they are smoking. Given the evidence-based proof, why is that still the case? I am left asking why we have we left it so long to have these conversations and bring the Bill forward.

I would like to understand the power of addiction to be able to make the point that this is a pro-choice Bill. It will give women more choice against that addiction that they are enduring at the most important point of their lives, when they are unable to make that choice for themselves.

Kate Brintworth: I absolutely agree with you. As I have said, pregnant women go to extraordinary lengths to protect themselves and their babies. They change what they eat and drink and how they behave in myriad ways to ensure that they are doing the right thing, yet it has proven very difficult to shift the figures you describe—I think nationally it is a little over 7% of women who are still smoking. That is a poignant demonstrator of just how difficult it is and how addictive nicotine is, when all women want to do is the right thing for their children. That is why all the chief nursing and midwifery officers across the four countries are united in support of the Bill, as our medical colleagues are, because we see the damage wrought across families and generations. We are 100% behind it.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis: It is important to re-emphasise the point made repeatedly by the chief medical officer for England: smoking and nicotine addiction takes away choice. When you are addicted, you do not have the choice to simply stop doing something. It is an addiction. It is a set of products that removes choice, and in removing that choice, people are killed.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Second sitting)

Debate between Mary Glindon and Trudy Harrison

Committee stage
Tuesday 30th April 2024 Public Bill Committees

[Trudy Harrison]

Q You have expertly explained the concerns around plastic pollution from vapes, but what do we know so far about the impacts on nature and biodiversity from cigarette butts? Also, are you aware of any concerns about the air pollution risks on biodiversity from cigarettes?

Laura Young: This may be something that has gone under the radar: the No. 1 item littered is cigarette butts, particularly when you look by number. They have a huge environmental impact, particularly because plastic is inside the filters, and the filter is the butt that is let behind. Although there has been a lot of campaigning around the environmental impact of vapes, there have been amazing efforts to raise awareness of the environmental issues around tobacco by organisations like ASH Scotland and the Marine Conservation Society, one of which I know has already given evidence.

Globally, we also need to look at this as a huge industry. Of course, kind of like any other industry, they need to be looking at their footprint and their sustainability measures. We know of course that air pollution is absolutely key to the conversation, and that has an impact as well on wildlife and biodiversity. Neither tobacco or nicotine products, such as vaping, are good for the environment; they are very harmful to the environment. We are just beginning to see those harms with disposable vapes in particular, but we know that cigarette butts have had a longstanding impact on the environment. They are also just a nightmare to collect. They are so small and so problematic. On beaches, you will see them as much as you see sand. We definitely need a lot more action across both those sectors.

[Mary Glindon]

Q The concerns about the environment are important, but the other issue about banning the use is that it sends out a message that vapes may not be safe. I know a lot of vaping companies are trying their best to see how vapes can be disposed of safely. They have these new vapes where they are disposable, but they are not single use. Do you think there could be any alternative to a ban? Do you think a ban might deter people from giving up smoking because they think that because vapes are banned, they are not good for you? It is a complicated discussion to have about what should be done. Do you want to comment on some of the things I have said?

Laura Young: Absolutely. The first thing to remember is that vaping is not good for you. It is slightly better than smoking, but let us definitely not push the message that it is good for you.

On disposables, that is something I got to see first hand just last week. Only one place in Scotland has the capacity to recycle disposable vapes or any vapes at all. From watching that process, it takes an individual staff member with personal protective equipment under a ventilation hood—if you remember chemistry from when you were at school—pulling them apart manually with pliers. They separate the parts of the vape out and put lots of it to the side because it cannot be recycled, and they take away things like the battery, covering it in this special type of tape to ensure that it does not combust and burn, because of course lithium is very explosive. The whole process of recycling one vape takes over a minute for one member of staff. It is a huge cost, and it is not an economically viable piece of WEEE—waste electronical and electronic equipment—to recycle.

We know that only a tiny number of vapes are actually being recycled. If all five million a week that are currently being thrown away in the UK were sent to recycling centres, it would be a huge cost to local authorities, which often are the ones collecting them, and it would take a lot of infrastructure and people hours to process them.

I will just say that nobody wants to ban things—I certainly do not want to ban things. Nobody started by saying, “Here, these seem like a bit of an issue. Should we ban them?” We actually went through the process of asking all the questions that you and many others have asked. What are the solutions? What can we do? How can we raise awareness?

Unfortunately, with an item that is just so damaging and dangerous and is the complete opposite of a circular economy, which is what we are trying to achieve, they just cannot exist. Disposable electronic devices should not exist, and that is really important. It is our job—the rest of us—to ensure that the public health messaging comes across clearly, which is, “One of the main reasons we are banning these is the environmental impact and youth access, but we still want to help adult smokers quit smoking and move to really just breathing fresh air. We want to move them completely away from tobacco and nicotine products.”