Extracts from Commons
debate on Under-age Vaping
(East Renfrewshire)
(SNP):...If we are serious about dealing with the harms to
children and young people, we really should expect sports clubs
to be somewhere that they can see positive imagery and have
positive influences. I recently visited a vaping shop near to
where I live. I know they are sold in other outlets too, in
corner shops and supermarkets
on Amazon and eBay, and we have heard about them being sold in a
barbershop as well...
(Darlington) (Con):...I wish
to highlight to the House the issue raised by my right hon.
Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North () about the location of
vaping products in Southampton. In conversation with me, my hon.
Friend the Member for Bosworth (Dr Evans) highlighted concerns
raised in his community about the siting of vapes in a
supermarket. He launched a campaign in his constituency to have
those relocated. He tells me that it was well met by the
supermarket, so there is perhaps a lesson for us all to raise
that issue in our respective local community supermarkets...
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD):...We have heard that vaping is a useful tool to help people
to quit smoking, and that it is safer than smoking tobacco and
cuts down the chances of developing conditions such as cancer.
However, the Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned by the rise
and prevalence of single-use disposable vapes, which are
explicitly targeted at young people, be it through the use of
brightly coloured advertisements, a range of playful colours or
their placement near the front of supermarkets
We must ensure that young people do not become addicted to those
products, and that vapes do not become a gateway to smoking. I am
grateful to the right hon. Member for Romsey and Southampton
North (), who, during her excellent
speech, referred to the location of vape bars in supermarkets
I will expand on that point by talking a little about my own
experience of it.
A few months ago, a parent of a student at Tiverton High School
in Devon reached out to me as he was deeply concerned by the rise
in the theft of vapes from our local Morrisons
supermarket, which is just a short walk from Tiverton
High School, making it easily accessible before and after school,
and perhaps during lunch breaks. I visited the store and found
that the vape stand was indeed right next to the shop entrance,
offering a range of single-use disposable vapes. My staff spoke
to the staff at the store, and it emerged that that spot was,
yes, chosen by the vendor. The vendor specifically insisted on
the vape stand being at the front of the shop in that way, and
paid extra for it. As is the case in other supermarkets the
security team were not regularly stationed by the front of the
shop, so it seemed ludicrous to me and my team that those
products were placed so close to the door and left unprotected...
To read the whole debate, OPEN HERE
Extract from Lords
Private Notice Question on Bank of England: Interest Rate
Policy
(LD): Does the Minister
also recognise that the Government themselves could influence
inflation far more effectively if they focused on doing so? For
example—to name just three actions—they could have dealt with the
staff shortages that have so driven inflation; they could have
done a great deal more, much earlier, to deal with price gouging
by many of our major supermarkets
and they could have kept in place the energy price support
scheme, which helped SMEs hold down their prices. Will the
Government then take responsibility for their share in not taking
those steps to stem inflation?
The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury () (Con): On the noble
Baroness’s first point, my initial Answer set out that the
Government continue to be committed to the independence of the
Bank of England. She is right that government policy can also
affect inflation. The OBR said that the energy price guarantee
brought inflation down by around two points. Our labour market
supply measures, including expanding access to childcare, were
the biggest supply side impact in a Budget that the OBR has ever
measured. If we were to provide direct subsidies to mortgages, as
the Liberal Democrats propose, that would have an inflationary
effect, meaning that interest rates would be higher for longer.
To read all the exchanges, OPEN HERE
