Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con) I beg to move, That this House has
considered the matter of the use and sale of illegal vapes. It is a
pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark, and I am
pleased to have secured this debate, in order to highlight my
concerns about the use and sale of illegal vapes. As a country, we
should be pleased with the progress that we have made in reducing
smoking, with smoking rates falling to their lowest since records
began;...Request free trial
(Darlington) (Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the matter of the use and sale of
illegal vapes.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark, and
I am pleased to have secured this debate, in order to highlight
my concerns about the use and sale of illegal vapes.
As a country, we should be pleased with the progress that we have
made in reducing smoking, with smoking rates falling to their
lowest since records began; now, only 12.9% of the population
smoke. In some part, this progress is down to the wide array of
nicotine replacement products: patches, pouches, gum, and of
course, in more recent years, vapes.
However, despite vapes being an effective alternative for adults
to use in order to quit smoking, we must be concerned about the
risks they pose to children and non-smokers. Vapes are not
risk-free. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, whatever
means are used to absorb it, and there remain unanswered
questions about the longer-term use of vaping. As , the Chief Medical Officer,
has said:
“If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t
vape.”
I have concerns about vaping that I wish to raise with the
Minister in this debate. They are threefold: first, the
availability of vaping products to children; secondly, the sale
and supply of illegal vaping products to children and adults; and
thirdly, the organised crime and exploitation that lie behind the
illegal products.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. Many
people see vaping as an alternative to smoking and it probably
is, but that does not mean that it is, in some cases, any less
destructive. Indeed, it has become an overnight epidemic, with
vape shops popping up, including in Newtownards, the main town in
my constituency. My concern has always been about the regulation
of these pop-up shops; they come here and they disappear, only to
pop up somewhere else.
Does the hon. Gentleman share that concern and agree that there
must be a licence to sell vapes, which should be vigorously
checked by the local council to ensure that laws are being
adhered to, so that the things he has expressed concern about
regarding children gaining access to vapes cannot happen?
It would not be a Westminster Hall debate without an intervention
from the hon. Gentleman. He anticipates two of the points that I
am about to come on to in my speech—first, the popping up of
these shops; and secondly, the need for licensing. So, I thank
him for his intervention.
Legally supplied cigarettes have reached a price that puts them
beyond the reach of children’s pocket money. That has been
brought about by a raft of measures, including a ban on smaller
packets, a ban on advertising, plain packaging, concealed
displays and raising the legal age to buy cigarettes to 18.
However, we have seen a worrying trend of children taking up the
habit of vaping; the latest figures show that some 20% of
children have tried vaping.
Those children have taken up the use of a product that is
designed to help people to quit smoking, but—this is the
important point—they themselves have never smoked. We know that
the flavours, packaging and design of vapes are attractive to
children, and that vapes are on very visible display in shops, in
contrast to the cigarettes that they are designed to replace.
As with the sale of cigarettes, the sale of nicotine-related
products is restricted to people over 18, but that restriction is
clearly not working. To my mind, many of the measures that we
introduced to curtail smoking need to be considered again in
addressing this problem.
I have met the parents of children who are addicted to vaping. It
is not uncommon to see children vaping in the street and the
whole disposable vape industry is visibly responsible for the
increase of litter on our streets, which local authorities face
huge difficulties in dealing with and which increases the risk of
fire in general waste collections.
The Local Government Association is deeply concerned about what
to do with the almost 200 million disposable vapes that are
thrown away every year in our country, and we should all be
concerned about their environmental impact. However, my primary
concern is the use and sale of illegal vapes, which do not always
comply with our legislation and often have much higher
concentrations of nicotine. They are sold with much higher
capacities than their legal equivalents. It is estimated that a
staggering one out of every three vapes sold in the UK is
illicit. They are being sold with no care whatever for the
user.
In the north-east, we have seen tragic cases of young children
hospitalised as a result of using high-strength illegal vapes.
The sale of these products is often concentrated in pop-up
mini-markets, which are easily identifiable and distinguishable
from reliable and traditional corner shops. Once upon a time
criminality hid away, but these operators hide in plain sight.
These shops appear quite rapidly, with blocked out windows, vivid
lighting and a sparse supply of genuine goods on the shelf and
are often, although not always, also selling illegal tobacco
products.
I want to put on the record my thanks to Phoebe Abruzzese from
The Northern Echo in Darlington for her campaigning journalism on
this issue, and I am pleased to be working with her to highlight
this problem.
(Dartford) (Con)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this debate. He is
right to want to see a clampdown on illegal vapes. They are very
different from those produced by responsible manufacturers, which
help adults quit smoking and thereby save lives. Does he agree
that we should continue to encourage adult smokers to vape, and
that we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater over
this? The responsible attitude is to allow people to use legal
vapes while clamping down on the illicit ones that we see too
many of.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention; he raises
a really important point. It is right that we encourage people to
stop smoking and that smokers have an array of products available
to help them, but those products must be legal. They must be
supplied legally and made available in the right way.
Trading standards in Darlington, which is doing a tremendous job
led by Shaun Trevor, has had much success over the past 18 months
in targeting these traders. Products with a value of over
£300,000 have been seized from some 23 retailers. Among those
products were almost 20,000 packets of illegal cigarettes. Their
sale would have resulted in a massive loss of revenue to the
Exchequer—something that I am sure the Chancellor would be
interested to learn about.
Last week, I went to visit a number of my local independent
corner shops. They report that their tobacco sales have fallen
off a cliff. In one instance, a trader of some 40 years reported
that his tobacco sales had fallen from more than £7,000 a week to
just £2,000. One the one hand, we can celebrate that as it will
partly be the result of some people giving up smoking, but we
know that the real underlying cause is that the trade has shifted
to illegal sales in newly popped-up competition, which is robbing
trade from our legitimate traders. Together with the footfall
that tobacco sales bring to those shops and the massive loss in
revenue, one retailer I visited estimates that his store is
collecting nearly £200,000 less duty and VAT because of the sale
of illegal tobacco. That is just one shop in one town. Imagine
the scale of that lost revenue to the country as a whole.
I have shared my concerns about children vaping and about the
availability of illegal products, but for me the most important
aspect of this debate is the organised crime that sits behind the
illegal supply and sale of these products. I know at first hand
of the collaborative work going on between my local council and
police in the sharing of intelligence, and I know that they are
acutely aware of the damage caused to our community and the local
economy. We have evidence locally that the funding for these
shops is rooted in organised crime and money laundering. We know
that, besides being supplied with illegal tobacco and vapes,
children are being used as mules to fetch and carry the illegal
products, which are stored off site rather than on the shop
premises, or to act as agents by selling the vapes to their
friends in the school playground. The most shocking local case
was of a young person being groomed for sex with the enticement
of illegal vapes. We should be wide awake to the risks in our
community to young people who are exposed to exploitation in this
way.
I will conclude by putting to the Minister some suggestions of
things that can be done that I believe can help tackle these
issues. We need to see a nationwide awareness campaign on illegal
vapes for both adults and children. We need to see much-increased
awareness in our schools of the safeguarding risks to young
people posed by the sale and supply of these products. I would
like to see all vape products in plain packaging and out of
sight, just like tobacco. We need to fully explore a robust
licensing system for both vapes and tobacco. We need greater
collaboration on intelligence between our very small trading
standards departments and police forces across the country. We
need on-the-spot fines, set at punitive rates, to tackle the sale
of these illegal vapes and tobaccos, and we need to see swifter
premises closure orders.
I am sure that all Members are as concerned as I am about the
issues that I have shared, and I have no doubt that more worrying
stories will be shared throughout this debate. I look forward to
the Minister’s response and to a plan that sees us clamp down on
this danger.
(in the Chair)
I remind Members that they should bob if they wish to be called
in the debate.
4.42pm
(City of Durham) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for Darlington () for securing this
afternoon’s debate. I am sure he knows that I have been
discussing this issue and campaigning against the sale and use of
illegal vapes throughout this Parliament, and I am sure he is
aware that I tabled several amendments to the Health and Social
Care Bill in 2021, when it was in Committee. I understand that
the hon. Member was not a member of that Public Bill Committee,
but he must share my frustration with his party on this issue.
The Tory Whips instructed Conservative Members to vote down my
amendments in 2021—amendments that were very similar to the
proposals in the King’s Speech last November. If my amendments
had been voted for, it is fair to argue that fewer
people—particularly young people—would be addicted to nicotine,
and that as a result the tenor of this debate would be
different.
“What ifs” aside, we need to see robust regulation and
enforcement at local level. My constituency needs that, and I am
shocked at the extent of illicit, non-compliant and even
untraceable vaping products in my constituency. Over 6,000
illicit vapes were seized last year across County Durham, with
three prosecutions linked to under-age sales and illicit vapes. I
express my thanks to The Northern Echo for its investigation into
that.
Although I welcome the Government’s announcement of an illicit
vapes enforcement squad, we are now nine months on from that
announcement, and unregulated and potentially dangerous products
continue to fly off the shelves. All the while, the tobacco
industry is making profits off the back of youth vaping rates.
Cuts to trading standards have not helped, either. Trading
standards workers in Durham are at full capacity, so when will
they receive something from the £30 million that was announced in
October to help them do their job?
We need the Government to be bold. We need to stop rogue vape
traders in their tracks, and we must ensure that the sale of
illicit vape products does not deter smokers from switching to
vaping. I welcome any Member’s raising the issue of the use and
sale of illegal vapes. Like the hon. Gentleman, I was pleased to
be part of a rare example of cross-party unity in The Northern
Echo but, at the end of the day, what matters in this place is
how we vote on policies. If an issue similar to that posed by the
Health and Social Care Act 2022 arises in the future, I hope that
the hon. Gentleman and Members who are about to contribute to the
debate will put their constituents before their party Whips.
4.45pm
(Hastings and Rye)
(Con)
It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington () on securing today’s debate
on a very important issue.
On the face of it, nicotine vaping is substantially less harmful
than smoking. It is also one of the most effective tools for
quitting smoking. However, I believe that before I speak about
illicit vapes it is worth noting that although vaping has helped
adults to quit smoking, we do not know for sure its long-term
health effects and have only an early understanding of the kinds
of health problems that vaping poses. The Royal College of
Physicians noted that some cancer-causing substances present in
tobacco smoke have also been detected in e-cigarette vapour,
which raises the possibility that long-term use of vapes may
increase the risk of smoking-related diseases. However, the risks
are obviously much lower than those posed by smoking.
Vaping is becoming more and more popular with young people.
According to Action on Smoking and Health, over 20% of children
between the ages of 11 and 17 tried vaping in 2023—up from 15.8%
in 2022. There is potential for the major health disaster of a
new generation of young people getting hooked on nicotine.
Although nicotine itself is not the problem per se, the different
substances found in e-liquids cause concern. To analyse the real
contents of popular vapes, the Inter Scientific laboratory, which
offers regulatory and testing services, looked at a selection of
vapes confiscated from school pupils in the UK. It examined them
to ensure that the UK tobacco and related products regulations
were met, but it found high levels of metals in the e-liquid that
far exceeded safe exposure levels. Results from the 18 vapes
analysed showed 2.4 times the safe level of lead, 9.6 times the
safe level of nickel and 6.6 times the safe level of chromium.
Obviously there was a low dataset, but it shows that the
regulations on vapes are not being met in this country.
Then we come to illegal vapes. Trading standards seized over 2
million illicit vapes across England between 2022 and 2023. In
East Sussex, over 3,000 illegal vapes were seized in 2020. I
believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Illicit vapes
are particularly popular with under-age consumers, because they
are cheap and can be bought in shops that are less likely to
check ID. Research from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute
suggests that a third of products sold in UK shops are likely to
be illegal. Given the levels of metals found in legal vapes, I
dread to think what the levels might be in the illegal ones. The
situation is staggering, and young people are often unaware of
what they are actually buying.
How do we tackle this problem? The solution lies in the method
that we used to reduce smoking rates in children between 2000 and
2021. By reducing vaping rates in children, we can also help to
address the scourge of illicit vapes. ASH’s response to the
Government’s recent call for evidence on youth vaping is
fantastic. I do not have time to go into the detail of its
suggestions for tackling youth vaping, but it emphasises four key
policy levers at the Government’s disposal, and I am sure the
Minister is considering its recommendations.
I am glad that the Government have set out plans to introduce a
tobacco and vapes Bill in this parliamentary Session, and I hope
it will address many of the issues highlighted in today’s debate,
because that will help to protect the health of children and
adults in Hastings and Rye, now and in the future.
4.50pm
(Dewsbury) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark.
First, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington () for securing this important
debate, which gives me the opportunity to highlight the
seriousness of the use of illegal vapes and cigarettes in my
constituency.
A week before Christmas, I was accompanied by a team of
enforcement officers on a test purchase exercise in Dewsbury town
centre. I put on record my thanks to the team for their
professionalism and ingenuity. During the exercise, we discovered
over 20 retail outlets selling illicit cigarettes and vapes
across Dewsbury. Fourteen of them were selling illegal disposable
vapes, one of which was on sale for £10—but it was £10 for 3,500
puffs. The maximum legal tank size equates to about 600 puffs, so
£10 spent on that product would be equivalent to almost six legal
vapes. Unlike a legal vape, however, this one had not had its
chemical constituents approved by the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency, so we have no idea what was in
it.
Here are some further shocking findings from our investigation.
That product was the smallest puff size available to purchase
that day. Another product, available for £12, promised 4,000
puffs. Another claimed to provide 9,000 puffs for £13. For £17,
two disposables claiming to provide 15,000 puffs and 24 ml tank
sizes were available. The maximum legal tank size is 2 ml. Almost
half the shops that sold these illicit vapes had them on display.
They either did not care or did not realise that the products
were illegal. The whole exercise was an eye-opener, but there
have been several high-profile incidents involving the sale of
illicit cigarettes and vapes in Dewsbury. Last October,
£100,000-worth of such products were seized by West Yorkshire
police and trading standards.
Last July, an independent report found that nearly a fifth by
value and volume of the vaping industry appeared to be illicit in
2022 and that almost a third of e-liquid consumed in disposable
vapes failed product compliance rules on nicotine concentrations
and volume limits. It is clear that the industry finds itself in
a challenging position but, in forging a path forward, it is
important that we do not lose sight of other key facts.
Scientific research indicates that vaping is less dangerous than
smoking, with up to 95% fewer harmful chemicals in the emissions.
The legal vape industry has had a positive impact on reducing
smoking, converting 1.5 million people away from cigarettes. I
have given up smoking in the last 12 months, and I used nicotine
patches, but I recognise that there are other ways to stop
smoking, including legal vapes. From a health benefit point of
view, it is important that we recognise that aspect.
The legal vaping industry, like any other industry, needs
protecting from criminal activity and illegal competition. There
must also be a balance between discouraging young people from
vaping and continuing to provide a route away from smoking for
adults. Getting the regulation wrong could further undermine the
Government’s smokefree ambitions and would arguably give a
significant boost to the illicit trade. I therefore urge them to
carefully consider the implications of any proposed legislation
and changes to regulations in the future, and I look forward to
hearing the Minister’s response to this important debate.
4.54pm
(Sleaford and North
Hykeham) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington () on securing this important
debate.
Hon. Members will not be surprised by my presence or to hear my
stance on this issue. For more than a year now I have championed
the fight against youth vaping, an epidemic that is spreading
like wildfire. These sleek, colourful contraptions, once touted
merely as a smoking cessation tool, have become ubiquitous. They
are not just in shops, but litter our streets and are hidden away
in our children’s bedrooms and classrooms. According to a recent
NASUWT survey, a staggering 85% of teachers reported vaping as an
issue among their students. Teachers in my constituency have
spoken of pupils struggling to concentrate because of their
nicotine addiction and having to leave lessons for vape
breaks—let us remember that these are not hardened junkies but
schoolchildren.
I propose a number of solutions to this growing problem,
including banning the sale of disposable vapes, removing them
from public displays in shops and banning the bright colours and
sweet flavours, which prolong the addictive effects and are so
attractive to children. I welcome the Government’s work and
commitments in this area, and I particularly thank the Minister
for her commitment to stopping children vaping and her broader
commitment to children and their health. However, we need to go
further, and I would like the Government to extend the existing
restrictions on cigarettes to vaping in public places to ensure
that no one, least of all children, becomes an unwitting victim
of second-hand vapour.
Coupled with that, we must impose tougher regulations on the
advertising and marketing of vaping products. I have previously
spoken out against the sponsoring of sports teams and the
pervasive advertising that glamourises vapes. I would like to see
these products taken off the side of Transport for London buses,
off prominent displays in corner shops and away from sports
stadiums. Instead, they should be put discreetly away behind the
counter, as the medical type of smoking cessation device they are
supposed to be.
Moving on to the specifics of today’s debate on illegal vapes,
vapes can be illegal for one of two reasons. They are either
illegally composed and perhaps have no self-extinguishing
mechanism, excessive quantities of nicotine or more puffs than
allowed. However, they may also contain harmful toxic chemicals.
Last spring, Lincolnshire police took a selection of vapes from
children and tested them. These are just some of the chemicals
they found: diethylene glycol diacetate, aviptadil,
2-methoxyethyl acetate, poster varnish, Indian snakeroot and
antifreeze. Those were all being inhaled by children using vapes
in Sleaford.
The other way vapes can be illegal is that they can be sold
illegally to children under the age of 18. Indeed, vapes can be
illegal in both the ways I have mentioned. Newspapers locally are
reporting an example of a police officer in Sleaford who recently
stepped into a local shop to stop illegal vapes being sold to
children. Those products were illegal not just because they were
being sold to children, but because they contained much more than
they ought to.
The next question is what we can do about this. We have talked
about ways in which we can tackle the use of vapes. I welcome the
vapes enforcement squad the Government put together with £3
million earlier this year, but we need more. There is no
registration scheme for selling vapes, in the way there is for
alcohol and tobacco. I would like to see a registration scheme
for vapes, tied to alcohol and tobacco, specifically to
disincentivise unscrupulous sellers. If they lose the vaping
licence, they would also lose the alcohol and tobacco licence. I
would also like to see an increase in on-the-spot fines, from
£2,500 to £10,000, so that there is a significant disincentive to
this behaviour. Let us face it, these people are making money out
of this, and that is why they are doing it—they are making money
out of selling illegal things to children that will harm
them.
Another idea is an import tax. It has been proposed to me that
one challenge facing Border Force is that vapes are not subject
to excise. If they were subject to excise controls, Border Force
would be able to intercept some of the illegal vapes. That is
much more challenging because there is no excise duty on vapes.
Also on the issue of tax, I am a Tory and would normally advocate
cutting as many taxes as possible, but I think there is a place
to put tax on vaping devices. Even with tax, they would still be
potentially much cheaper relative to their nicotine content than
cigarettes, making them a cheaper option for a genuine adult
smoker who wishes to quit, but they would be more expensive for
children, taking them out of the realms of pocket money.
In summary, this issue demands bold action, as it did when I
first stood up to discuss it a year ago. I urge the Government
and all hon. Members to join me in ensuring that vapes are used
as a cessation device, as they are supposed to be. Only by
toughening our response to a rogue industry can we protect our
children from the suffocating grip of addiction.
5.00pm
(East Renfrewshire)
(SNP)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Mark. I am
grateful to the hon. Member for Darlington () for securing the debate and
for the powerful way he introduced the topic.
Like the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson),
I have made no secret of my lack of enthusiasm for
vapes—specifically disposable vapes. I have held my own debates
on the topic, and I have supported others, including the hon.
Lady, so I am pleased to speak today, because we need urgent
action on these things.
We have heard about smoking cessation a couple of times during
the debate. Smoking cessation is absolutely important, and we
should all take it very seriously, but disposable vapes are not
risk-free, as has been pointed out. There are other, more useful
ways of supporting smoking cessation—for instance, reusable
vapes, which are not seen as attractive to young people. However
we look at it, and whether they are illicit or not, disposable
vapes are harmful, particularly to young people and our
environment.
The environmental side of things is what first caused me to
become interested in disposable vapes. That was thanks to Laura
Young, better known as “Less Waste Laura”, who is a student from
my constituency. Laura has worked tirelessly to rid our streets,
parks and beaches of the discarded plastic, which is so familiar
to us all, and the pollution that has become a torrent in recent
years. These apparently disposable vapes are almost never
properly disposed of; in fact, the way they are constructed means
it is almost impossible to properly dispose of them even if
someone wants to, which is quite unlikely, considering that this
product is sold on the basis of its easily disposable nature.
It is a great pity—this is embarrassing for it—that the Labour
party, propped up by the Tory party on East Renfrewshire Council,
is so unwilling to support anything the SNP supports that it has,
not once but twice, refused to support a motion to ban disposable
vapes locally, putting the council out of step with almost every
other local authority in Scotland and with the evidence of the
harm that such devices do.
Does the hon. Lady not accept that properly and legally produced
disposable vapes provide an attractive alternative for adults to
stop smoking and thereby save lives? Some companies, although
this is not happening a great deal, can now almost fully recycle
the components of disposable e-cigarettes. Does she accept that
there is a danger that we move from illicit vapes and start
targeting those that would be welcome for adult smokers to switch
to?
No, I do not accept the hon. Gentleman’s proposition at all. That
is absolutely wrong-headed. We can see in front of our eyes that
these products are so attractive to young people that they are
hooking them in—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman is mumbling
from his chair. If I can finish my speech, I will set out for him
that these products are hooking young people in and getting them
addicted, and some of these young people then go on to start
smoking. That is far from the situation he laid out, and we
should take a very serious attitude to these products.
I have spoken about the harms caused by legal vapes to the
planet, whether it is plastic, overuse of precious metals or
fires. We have heard today about the impact that these substances
have on the young people who ingest them, which should be of
significant concern to us. Vaping is popular among young people.
Since 2021, there has been a more than sevenfold increase in the
number of 11 to 17-year-olds vaping and using disposable vapes
rather than reusable ones. These devices are colourful and
attractive, with snazzy names and fruity flavours. Vaping has
risen so rapidly among children that one in five are now using
disposable vapes.
We are not speaking about a smoking cessation mechanism. We are
speaking about something that health professionals increasingly
warn about. They are increasingly worried about a generation of
young people who are hooked on nicotine. As the Royal College of
Paediatrics and Child Health has said:
“Youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic”.
Despite all that, and despite the fact that the public would be
concerned to know all these things, we have this stream of
illicit, and other, vapes on our streets. We know that local
shops are the most likely source for young people to come by
them, and we have heard quite a lot about that today. There is
also the online space, which is a source of significant concern
to me. Unregulated and untested products are coming via the
online space, and we have no idea what harms will be caused to
the young people consuming them.
I met a business owner from my area last week, and she talked me
through her concerns about illegal medical products—obviously not
proper medical products. She showed me how she was targeted by
online accounts pushing these goods to her. She is a responsible
professional and she resisted, but let us be clear that there are
many and complex routes by which these illicit vapes arrive here,
just as there are for illicit medical products. All those routes
need to be closed down, and they need to be closed down now.
Whatever the disposable vape, it causes harm.
We know that there are significant kinds of harm being caused
with the flavours and the colours. We have heard from the hon.
Member for Hastings and Rye () about the worries that
Action on Smoking and Health spoke about. We are hearing more and
more about vape use being glamourised online, and when people
under the legal age cannot purchase vapes legally, they are
purchasing them illegally or purchasing illegal ones.
The public health messaging on this issue is not as clear as it
should be. The hon. Member for Dartford () tried to tell me that vapes
would be a perfectly reasonable way to expect adults to support
themselves in smoking cessation, but that is not right and that
should not be what the public health messaging tells us. We heard
from the hon. Member for Darlington that vapes are a gateway to
other, sometimes very serious, concerns and to riskier behaviour,
such as smoking and substance abuse. He eloquently outlined the
even greater and more significant harms that can be caused.
These things are arriving in huge numbers. I am grateful to the
Advertising Standards Authority, which met with me after the most
recent vape-related debate I spoke in. It is doing significant
work trying to uphold the ban on advertising in various places,
including on social media, of nicotine-containing cigarettes that
are not licensed as medicines. None the less, Members may have
seen adverts that would cause them to think that was not the
case, and that is part of this torrent and this pushing of vapes,
which needs our urgent attention.
Indeed, vapes need attention across the world. Let us be clear
that the scale of the problem and the potential harms to young
people and the planet should cause us deep worry. I read a really
interesting piece by Chris Kirkham from Reuters last month about
the owners of Elf Bar, which is a company with roots in China.
Elf Bar products are very popular here, and the company is now,
according to Reuters, flooding the US with illegal vapes—ones not
covered by Food and Drug Administration regulations.
Will the hon. Lady give way?
I am going to make progress, but if I have time, I would be happy
to let the hon. Gentleman come in later.
Elf Bar is simply ignoring those regulations to get its products
to market. In the UK, it is taking a different approach and
complying with regulations so that it can—one presumes—sell the
maximum number of its products. That means that we need different
regulations that will stop the surge in young people vaping. Of
course, if we banned all disposable vapes, it would be far easier
to identify the illicit ones, because all vapes would be illicit.
It is far better that we close down the distributors and that we
do so in a wholehearted way.
I have spoken before about my own concerns about sports
advertising of vapes. I spoke about Blackburn Rovers, and a
15-year-old footballer, who came on as a substitute in their FA
cup win recently, made history as their youngest ever player.
However, his shirt did not have the club sponsor, Totally Wicked,
on it. Blackburn Rovers said that, as the legal vaping age in the
UK is 18, under-18s cannot wear that logo—but they can still see
it, because it is displayed on everyone else’s strip. We would
not want tobacco companies advertising on sports strips. We would
not want whisky, beer or cider companies on sports strips. None
of those things should be acceptable to us, and advertising for
vapes should not be acceptable to us either. If we are serious
about dealing with the harms that young people experience because
of vaping, we should expect sports clubs to take that seriously
too. The claims by both Blackburn Rovers and Totally Wicked at
the time that vaping had a positive and proven role in supporting
the reduction of smoking are simply not credible when we think of
the young people who are interested in football.
I will bring my remarks to a conclusion. I noticed recently that
some vaping companies are actually going out and looking for
sportspeople to sponsor. I think that is hugely dangerous and
hugely unwelcome. I ask the Minister to give us some of her
thoughts on that matter in her response.
(in the Chair)
Order. I am conscious of the fact that there may be a vote
shortly. Have you finished?
Well, I have now.
(in the Chair)
Okay. There may be a vote so I may have to suspend proceedings. I
call .
5.10pm
(Birmingham, Edgbaston)
(Lab/Co-op)
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I
thank the hon. Member for Darlington () for securing this important
debate, and the many colleagues who have made excellent points,
including my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham () who is a great campaigner
on this issue.
Many Members have focused their remarks on the impact of vaping
on children, and they are absolutely right to do so. The
Opposition recognise the value of vapes as a stop-smoking tool.
They have their place. The chief medical officer put it
bluntly:
“If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t
vape”.
But the CMO has also been blunt about the epidemic rise in youth
vaping in recent years. Nicotine addiction is in no one’s
interest apart from the companies that profit from it. Certainly
no child should be vaping. We do not even know some of the
long-term risks of the ingredients used in vapes, and certainly
not when inhaled by young people whose lungs and brains are still
developing.
However, I am afraid to say that the Government have been asleep
at the wheel. In 2021, as we have heard, Labour voted for an
amendment to the Health and Care Act 2022 to crack down on the
marketing of vapes to children. Since then, as Labour has found,
the number of children aged 11 to 17 who are vaping regularly has
more than trebled. That is more than 140,000 British children.
Meanwhile, one in five children have now tried vaping. Does the
Minister regret that her Government and MPs voted against the
amendment in 2021?
The issue is that it is now 2024 and we still have no legislation
in place. It is bad enough that so many children are using these
products, but, as other Members have said, it is even worse when
we consider how many products on the market are illegal in their
own right. As the chief medical officer has warned, those
products can contain dangerous chemicals such as lead and nickel.
Some contain nicotine when claiming they do not, or harmful
tetrahydrocannabinol chemicals found in cannabis. To be clear, in
most cases that amounts to a failure in enforcing existing
regulations, and it really is shocking.
Last year, Inter Scientific and the BBC conducted an analysis of
vapes confiscated from schoolchildren, and found that the vast
majority did not meet UK product regulations and were actually
illegal. In a separate analysis of 300 products seized by various
trading standards around the country, they found that 88% were
non-compliant with UK regulations; 23% had a nicotine strength
over the legal limit; 15% contained lead, which when inhaled can
damage children’s central nervous system and brain development;
100% contained nickel; and 33% contained nicotine, despite being
marketed at 0%, which absurdly means that they can be sold to
children. Can the Minister tell us what she will do to crack down
on the influx of illegal vapes so that dangerous products are not
falling into the hands of our young children?
From speaking to experts in the industry, I have heard that there
has been an influx of illegal vapes into the United Kingdom in
recent years. One expert I consulted said they think that around
6 million illegal vape products have flooded the UK in the last
12 to 24 months. Can the Minister comment on why the UK seems to
be targeted more than many other countries, and where she thinks
these products are coming from? Until now, UK regulations have
largely inoculated us from public health scares such as the spate
of hospitalisations from popcorn lung in the United States, but
does she share my concern that if we do not get a grip on illegal
products flooding our markets, we could face something similar
here? Lastly, can she comment on what she has learned from the
Government’s consultation about the percentage of vapes
circulating in the UK that are illegal under the 2016
regulations? If it is anything like the 88% found by Inter
Scientific, we have a very big problem.
A glaring issue that many have identified is enforcement. As we
all know, trading standards is stretched and Border Force is
evidently not stopping the import of illegal vapes in sufficient
numbers. However, the Government have not made their job easy.
One issue is the confusing regulations. I know that the
Government have said they will act to close the loophole that
means that while it is illegal to sell vapes to children, it is
fine to hand them out. We have heard less from the Government on
the fact that it is also currently legal to sell nicotine-free
vapes to under-18s, which is of serious concern. Labour has been
vocal on this issue. As I have flagged, these 0%-nicotine vapes
in fact often do contain nicotine or other harmful chemicals.
Will the Minister confirm that the Government will take action to
ban those vapes being sold to children? It strikes me as a
blatant loophole that is giving unscrupulous companies scope to
hook young children on their products as a gateway to addiction.
These 0%-nicotine vapes are out of the scope of the regulations,
meaning they do not need to be registered with the MHRA. Will the
Minister now require all manufacturers to notify vape products
regardless of nicotine content to the MHRA? This would allow for
a complete database of products where currently it is not
possible to say which products are legal or illegal, which really
undermines enforcement action.
Speaking of the MHRA, we must also recognise that the relevant
authorities are not always empowered to do what is needed to
crack down on those breaking the rules. It strikes me as a
serious shortcoming that as long as producers complete
notification requirements with the regulator, their product is
allowed to go on the UK market without being tested as a whole.
The MHRA—the regulator—does not have powers to test products to
determine whether they are even compliant with what producers
claim are in them, nor to remove notifications once
published.
The fact that under this Government children are using vapes with
nicotine in them is pretty scandalous, given what we know about
the lack of regulations. I say that because when the producer of
Elf Bars was found to be selling products that had larger tank
sizes than allowed, the regulations did not provide the MHRA with
the power to remove the product from the market, as the product
notifications said that it was compliant. That is farcical.
This matter is a huge concern not just for me, but for most
Members across the House. Will the Minister say whether she is
looking at this as part of the legislation? Will she consider
allowing the MHRA to use notification fees for testing and
enforcement and giving it the powers to remove notifications from
publication and, if necessary, take products off the market?
Likewise, does she believe that Border Force has the powers that
it actually needs? Will the Minister finally tackle the issue of
youth vaping, as we have heard about from many Members, by doing
what Labour has called for for years and banning vapes from being
branded and advertised to appeal to children? We have all seen
the displays in our local off licences, with flavours like gummy
bear and unicorn shake, looking like colourfully packaged pick
‘n’ mix products at pocket-money prices. These really do need to
be banned.
Dr Johnson
The hon. Lady is making some very good points about the
regulations that need to be brought in to protect children. I do
not think anybody thinks that the colours and flavours are not
there in some ways to attract children—how many adults are going
to want a unicorn milkshake-flavoured vape, whatever that tastes
like? On that point specifically, would the Labour party support
legislation brought in by the Government to ban all but one
colour and to severely restrict the flavours available?
What has been marketed at children, definitely, is the different
flavours. However, I appreciate that adults do choose different
flavours as part of their whole smoking cessation, so we need to
look at the evidence in the round once we are looking at the
Bill. I would be keen to hear at what the Government say on that
and to look at the evidence base. We need to look at the
ingredients, the make-up of colours and how we get those
flavours—it is about what those ingredients actually mean. We
have to ensure that we have a proper evidence base on that
issue.
Dr Johnson
I was talking to an industry representative about the issue of
flavours in particular, and he told me that when a smoker decides
to quit, they often start with a tobacco-flavoured vape. When
their sense of smell and taste improves because they have stopped
smoking, they then no longer like the taste of the tobacco vapes,
so they move on to cherry cola or some other flavour. That
actually can persist their addiction. The concern about removing
the flavours is that instead of stopping using the vapes, people
will continue—
(in the Chair)
Order. Interventions are meant to be short. The hon. Lady has
already spoken, and we still have the Minister to come. She
requires 10 minutes at least, and it is now 5.19 pm. I suggest to
the Opposition spokesperson that she makes an end to her speech
fairly quickly.
The next Labour Government would come down like a ton of bricks
on companies profiting at the expense of our children’s health.
As part of our child-health action plan, we will crack down on
companies peddling vapes to children. We will work with local
councils and the NHS to ensure that they are being used as a
stop-smoking aid, rather than as a new form of smoking. We will
tackle health inequalities, get serious about prevention and
ensure that children born in Britain today are part of the
healthiest generation that ever lived. I look forward to the
Minister’s response.
5.20pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care (Dame )
It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship today, Sir
Mark. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (), and all my hon. Friends who
are here today. It highlights the importance with which the
Government Benches view this issue.
I would just assure the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston
() that all of the issues
that she has mentioned are indeed top priorities for me. I am on
the warpath when it comes to children vaping. Whether it is
nicotine-free, cherry-cola flavoured, legal or illegal, children
should not be vaping. I will bring forward, as soon as possible,
the results of the consultation, and then the smoking
legislation, and all colleagues will be able to see that.
However, I pay tribute to all my hon. Friends, who are here in
droves in this Chamber today to make known their very serious
concerns about the protection of children. I also pay tribute to
the hon. Member for City of Durham (), who has done so much to
try and promote this issue and to ensure that children are kept
safe.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to talk about the work that
we are doing to tackle the use and sale specifically of illicit
vapes, and I am grateful to all colleagues for this being largely
a cross-party issue, where we are all on the same side, and I
very much hope that we will keep it that way. Like so many
parents right across the country, we are all incredibly worried
about the damage that is potentially being done to children’s
bodies by vapes—particularly illegal vapes.
One of the main health risks posed by vapes is from their highly
addictive nicotine content. Young brains are more susceptible to
the effects of nicotine, and so the risk of becoming addicted is
greater for younger people compared to adults.
Will the Minister give way?
Dame
I will not give way, I am sorry; there is no time left and I want
to make my points.
It is appalling and unacceptable when businesses knowingly and
deliberately encourage children to use a product that was
designed for adults to quit smoking. Often sold at pocket-money
prices, easy to use and widely available, disposable vapes are
the product of choice for children. Over two thirds of current
youth vapers use disposable products—all illegally, because they
are under age. And, as if we needed another reason to regulate, 5
million disposable vapes are either littered or thrown away in
general waste every week. That has quadrupled over the last
year.
Our duty is clear: to protect all kids from vaping while their
lungs and brains are still developing. Businesses are shamelessly
using bright colours, alluring packaging and attractive flavours,
as hon. Friends and colleagues have said, like “candy bubblegum”
and “blueberry razz”, in Coke-can shaped packaging, right next to
the sweet counter, in the full knowledge that our children are
going to become addicted to nicotine. This cannot go on.
Businesses should abide by the existing regulations setting
product standards, including prohibitions on certain ingredients
and restrictions on nicotine strength, bottle size limits and
advertising. Products should be registered with the Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to be sold legally in the
UK. Any product that is not notified and does not meet our high
standards should not be sold to anyone, let alone children.
Unregulated vapes pose a massive risk because they circumvent the
high standards of regulation, contain unknown ingredients, as
colleagues across the Chamber have said, and stronger nicotine,
and are often made available to children through black-market
channels. Illicit vapes may contain dangerous metals such as
lead, nickel and chromium, and contents such as antifreeze and
poster varnish—unbelievable, extraordinary contents. We have no
idea what frequent inhalation of those does to adult lungs, let
alone still-developing lungs.
Independent research suggests that there is a direct link between
the rise in children vaping and the flood of illegal,
non-compliant vapes coming to our shores. That is why, to keep
vapes out of our children’s hands, we must first enforce our
regulations to stamp out the sale and supply of illicit and
underage vapes, and, secondly, educate our children about how
those products will hurt them.
On enforcement, we have learned much from our successful campaign
to tackle illicit tobacco. Targeted enforcement saw the overall
consumption of illegal tobacco plummet from 17 billion cigarettes
25 years ago to 3 billion cigarettes last year. In April,
building on this success, we announced the formation of a new,
specialised illicit vaping enforcement team, named Operation
Joseph, to identify and seize illicit vapes on entry to England
through the seven ports that have seen increased illegal
activity. We are giving National Trading Standards £3 million of
new funding over two years for the sole purpose of getting
illicit products off our shelves. Across the country, it is
diligently testing products for dangerous substances, and
carrying out test purchases online and in shops. Recently, I had
the great pleasure of meeting some of its officers in
action—people such as David Hunt, a senior officer and illicit
tobacco lead in Hackney, who is doing incredible work to ensure
there is a fair and honest market. As a result of National
Trading Standards’ work across the country, 2.1 million vapes
were seized by trading standards officers in England between 2022
and 2023 alone.
My message to people and businesses that sell illegal vapes is
clear: they should stop it right now. If they do not, they may
receive an unlimited fine or a custodial sentence of up to two
years. However, there is no room for complacency, and I am not
naive to the scale of the challenge. That is why in October we
announced an additional £30 million per year for our enforcement
agencies over the next five years, to support their efforts to
extinguish the illicit trade in tobacco and vapes. The additional
funding will give agencies the resources they need to catch
criminals and rogue traders.
Cracking down on illicit products entering the country is
critical, but such efforts must go hand in hand with educating
children about the dangers of these products to prevent their use
in the first place. Over the past two years, we have taken a
number of steps to increase the training resources and support
available to teachers in schools, to update the curriculum to
include the health risks of vaping, and to publish new online
content on the potential risks of vaping for young people. We
have also written to police forces right across England to ensure
that dedicated school liaison officers are keeping vapes away
from the playground as much as possible.
Finally, I want to touch briefly on our wider plans to reduce the
overall rates of youth vaping. As I said at the start, I will set
out much more detail in the near future. As colleagues know, we
recently consulted on a range of measures to reduce the appeal,
availability and affordability of vapes to children. Our
consultation has also considered what further measures we could
take to strengthen enforcement, such as by introducing new fixed
penalty notices. We are in the process of finalising our response
to the consultation and will update Parliament shortly on the
measures we are taking forward.
As I said at the start of my remarks, we all have a duty to
protect our children from under-age vaping as their lungs and
brains continue to develop. We do not yet know about the
long-term damage being caused to their lungs and brains, but I
dread to think about it, so we will be ruthless towards those who
disregard our safeguards and undermine our work to protect
children’s health. I am on the warpath where vaping is concerned,
and I urge all children to stop vaping. I look forward to working
with colleagues across parties and across Government to make
youth vaping a thing of the past.
5.29pm
I am delighted to have led the debate this afternoon and to have
heard from the Minister. I was pleased to hear all the
contributions from Members across the Chamber, and it is clear
that there is cross-party and political-free concern about the
issue of our children’s welfare. I am particularly pleased that
my hon. Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr
Johnson) is here, given that she is a consultant paediatrician
and has campaigned long and hard on this issue. I was
particularly interested in her idea about bringing in some excise
duties as a way to stop illegal vapes.
I am delighted to have heard from the Minister. She stole the
words that I had written down—I was going to say that she was on
the warpath. She is clearly—
5.30pm
Motion lapsed, and sitting adjourned without Question put
(Standing Order No. 10(14)).
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