All quiet on the Western front

[kibbster]

We were all prepared for it.
Red Alert was initialised and Propaganda shields were raised ready to deflect the incoming barrage of ANTZ propaganda from WHO, NHS, BMA, ASH, Glans, McKee, Chapman etc.
Today is their last chance to influence the vote/troll e-cig users.

And....

Nothing...

I keep thinking it's early days but it's pretty much the end of the working day before the plenary and vapers are pretty much the only people on Twitter 

Have the ANTZ moved, over-slept or have we got rid of them all? (can but dream)

Maybe they are waiting for a late evening/night trollfest (I think that's generally when nasty creatures are supposed to come out of hiding according to nursery rhymes.)

Anyway, nothing very much to report yet...

[4madcats]

Got to agree, all seems very unnaturally quite compared to this time before the ENVI vote. Maybe they've figured out that we can screenshot & aren't afraid to use it

[kibbster]

Oct 7, 2013 15:35:46 GMT 4madcats said:

Got to agree, all seems very unnaturally quite compared to this time before the ENVI vote. Maybe they've figured out that we can screenshot & aren't afraid to use it

There's just tumbleweeds from their side.
Wasn't expect that at all, was ready for an onslaught of joke science and trolling but nope...
Let's hope they are as vocal tomorrow at the vote

[dnglos]

Just heard that Anna Soubry's gone (reshuffled to Defence) So that's one of the ANTZ out of the way.
Let's hope the damage she's done can be repaired.

[4madcats]

Oct 7, 2013 15:38:31 GMT kibbster said:

Oct 7, 2013 15:35:46 GMT 4madcats said:

Got to agree, all seems very unnaturally quite compared to this time before the ENVI vote. Maybe they've figured out that we can screenshot & aren't afraid to use it

There's just tumbleweeds from their side.
Wasn't expect that at all, was ready for an onslaught of joke science and trolling but nope...
Let's hope they are as vocal tomorrow at the vote

[4madcats]

Oct 7, 2013 15:39:49 GMT dnglos said:

Just heard that Anna Soubry's gone (reshuffled to Defence) So that's one of the ANTZ out of the way.
Let's hope the damage she's done can be repaired.

OMG I'll see your 1 & raise you

But I've got to say as if the poor sods over there ain't got it hard enough already

[kibbster]

Oct 7, 2013 15:39:49 GMT dnglos said:

Just heard that Anna Soubry's gone (reshuffled to Defence) So that's one of the ANTZ out of the way.
Let's hope the damage she's done can be repaired.

Get in there!

Ok she's still got a job... Boo....
But at least it's nowhere near e-cigs! 
Best news of the day!

[4madcats]

Now if I were to put me tin foil hat on right now I'd seriously wonder about the timing of this announcement 

A very subtle warning perhaps, but good or bad can't make me mind up 

[Sassy]

I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread slightly!

Can anyone tell me in laymans terms what the government (?) are trying to propose with e-cigs and/or liquid?

I understand it being something about making them medicinal - but what does that mean for the end user like me?

I apologise, I have a neurological disorder and too much info shoved in my face just doesn't absorb so most things I've tried to look at on the net are just going right over my head

[dnglos]

Oct 7, 2013 15:58:14 GMT 4madcats said:

Now if I were to put me tin foil hat on right now I'd seriously wonder about the timing of this announcement 

A very subtle warning perhaps, but good or bad can't make me mind up 

Maybe I'm being too optimistic but it sounds like good news to me. If amendment 170 goes through tomorrow Soubry's replacement would presumably be able to support a compromise on e-cigs without it appearing that the UK government had done a u-turn.

[barrynorton]

Just got the following:

Below is a copy of the email I have sent to my MEP colleagues today.

Momentum is with us but the vote will be close. I will update you on the outcome tomorrow.

If you know of other e-cigarette supporters who want to be kept up to date with the campaign please encourage them to sign up at the following webpage: www.chrisdaviesmep.org.uk/show_your_support_for_e_cigarettes


"Dear Colleague



Tomorrow we vote on the Tobacco Products Directive and Amendment 170 on e-cigs – which now has the support of the PPE, ALDE and ECR groups as well as many individual S&D MEPs.



E-cigs have the potential dramatically to reduce smoking-related disease. I have hundreds of testimonies from smokers who say they like them, have better health, and no longer want to smoke tobacco.



Excuse the personal note but maybe you have had someone in your family who has died of lung cancer. My father was a heavy smoker – totally addicted, he always had a cigarette in his hands. Nicotine patches would never have been of use to him. But I can imagine him using e-cigs, if only to stop smoking inside the house. They might have given him a few more years of life.



Amendment 170 introduces strict controls on the advertising and marketing of e-cigs, and ensures product safety. But it does not force them to be treated as medicinal products that will restrict their availability.



E-cigs could save millions of lives. We should not make them harder to buy than tobacco.





All the best



Chris Davies MEP"

[kibbster]

Oct 7, 2013 16:19:46 GMT Sassy said:

I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread slightly!

Can anyone tell me in laymans terms what the government (?) are trying to propose with e-cigs and/or liquid?

I understand it being something about making them medicinal - but what does that mean for the end user like me?

I apologise, I have a neurological disorder and too much info shoved in my face just doesn't absorb so most things I've tried to look at on the net are just going right over my head

The basic gist is the EU want E-cigs classified as medicines which means (in the UK) the MHRA would have to be paid a lot of money (Millions of £s) to allow them to be released.
Anything that doesn't have this Marketing Authorisation would be made illegal and removed from the shelves from 2016 or earlier.
As nothing to date has been granted an MA after years of trying and millions of pounds it's safe to assume it would be a ban on vaping.
In the EU in some countries medicines can only be sold in pharmacies... If they want to even sell them. 

[kibbster]

Tomorrow is the first major battle for E-cigs.
The EU MEPs are voting on tobacco policy and there is an amendment there to keep e-cigs as consumer devices (like they are now) but with nicotine strength limitations and restrictions on advertising.
Not ideal but it is far better than medical legislation and unlike removing e-cigs from the voting entirely has a good amount of backing and a good chance to go through.

[neptune]

This whole business of Soubry being kicked upstairs somehow makes me nervous. How apt that she has been moved to defence. At least she has a proven track record that she is in favour of killing people.

[kibbster]

Oct 7, 2013 16:52:00 GMT neptune said:

This whole business of Soubry being kicked upstairs somehow makes me nervous. How apt that she has been moved to defence. At least she has a proven track record that she is in favour of killing people.

It makes me nervous that useless f***wit is now in charge of the UK defense budget!
But at least she won't be anywhere near our E-cigs.

She might declare Martial law though and ban E-cigs through the threat of snipers and tanks I guess...