Breaking News: Lord Callanan drops fatal motion

[sydsut]

The problem is that a non-tobacco product got shoved in with Anti-Tobacco and Smoking legislation. Sadly this means that a 95% safer product gets guilt by association. Lets hope that the Referendum gives Brussels a big scare if nothing else, though a leave vote would be brilliant.

[BrenD]

Sadly Labour got nearly 56% of the vote in Lewisham East at the last election. I didn't think they'd have someone who seems to be a rising star of the party in a marginal seat, but stranger things have happened.

[Get Off My Cloud]

Jun 9, 2016 10:54:33 GMT sydsut said:

The problem is that a non-tobacco product got shoved in with Anti-Tobacco and Smoking legislation. Sadly this means that a 95% safer product gets guilt by association. Lets hope that the Referendum gives Brussels a big scare if nothing else, though a leave vote would be brilliant.

That's true but there's nothing to stop the UK government drafting their own laws which implement the anti tobacco parts of the TPD without article 20 which deals with e-cigarettes or drafting their own regulations governing e-cigarettes so it really is a weak excuse by Callanan to drop the fatal motion in favour of one of regret on the grounds he has.

[VapingBad]

It is completely unfair to blame Martain Callanan for this, he has been fantastic at supporting vaping and has shaken the tree more than any other UK politician, but with Labour and the Lib Dems instructing their peers to vote it down it would have been defeated. If you have to blame someone then blame the liars, lobbyists and apathetic vapers that were aware yet didn't let the politicians know.

[Get Off My Cloud]

Jun 9, 2016 12:21:36 GMT VapingBad said:

It is completely unfair to blame Martain Callanan for this, he has been fantastic at supporting vaping and has shaken the tree more than any other UK politician, but with Labour and the Lib Dems instructing their peers to vote it down it would have been defeated. If you have to blame someone then blame the liars, lobbyists and apathetic vapers that were aware yet didn't let the politicians know.

Well ultimately he is the one that dropped it, plus i just said it is a weak excuse on the grounds given for doing so.
Certainly i understand he probably wants to remain diplomatic and non confrontational to a degree.
But i would hardly describe the excuse that rejecting the TPD entirely would mean they lose the regulations on tobacco products as "the truth"

Also being critical of one action does not erase the praise for others, each action has to be evaluated on it's own merits.

[VapingBad]

IDK what "the excuse that rejecting the TPD entirely would mean they lose the regulations on tobacco products" has to do with Callanan Get Off My Cloud as far as I'm aware that load of tosh came from Heidi Alexander. Politics is a numbers game, we didn't have the numbers.

[DiscoDes]

This is a reply that Heidi Alexander (Lab) sent to a vaper...

[VapingBad]

Jun 9, 2016 13:27:09 GMT DiscoDes said:

This is a reply that Heidi Alexander (Lab) sent to a vaper...

This is the one I got, it's nice to get the personal touch

Dear Mr

Thank you for contacting me regarding Lord Callanan's motion in the House of Lords to annul the regulations which transpose the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into UK law.

Firstly, I share your views about the benefits of vaping over smoking and I believe that recent research shows that some of the initial concerns about e-cigarettes were overstated. Vaping can be a safe and effective way to give up smoking and I believe the Government should be doing more to promote e-cigarettes as a potentially useful aid to help people quit smoking.

I note that Lord Callanan has now withdrawn his “fatal motion” to annul the TPD regulations. A fatal motion would have stopped the regulations entirely, removing not just the changes to e-cigarettes but all the positive changes brought in by these regulations to help smokers quit and make smoking tobacco less attractive to younger people. Lord Callanan has instead tabled a “regret motion”, which highlights his concern that the regulations were drafted before evidence was accumulated that vaping can help people to stop smoking.

The Labour Party has tabled its own regret motion, a copy of which can be viewed below, and this sets out some of our concerns with the regulations. These concerns include the failure of the Government to establish a monitoring mechanism to measure whether the directive will have a negative impact on the number of smokers using electronic cigarettes, and the failure of the Government to launch a public awareness campaign re-assuring smokers that vaping is much less harmful than smoking.

I note concerns have been raised about the ban on nicotine content above 20mg/ml that is contained in the regulations. Whilst it is true that stronger products will in future need to be licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, my understanding is that for many people this will make little difference as the most popular liquids tend to be those products with concentrations of nicotine lower than 20mg/ml.

I am also aware of concerns that the regulations place limits on ‘container’ size and ‘tank capacity’. Whilst I understand these concerns, it is important to note that the prohibition of container size to 10ml only comes into force on 20 May 2017, which allows ample time for manufacturers to make the better quality e-liquids available within the legal size limit.

I believe that the Government should carefully monitor how these regulations impact on users of e-cigarettes, and I will continue to press Ministers on what more they can do to help people stop smoking tobacco.

Thank you once again for getting in touch on this important issue.

Best wishes

Heidi Alexander MP

†Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to move that, in the light of the concerns about the impact of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 on the use of electronic cigarettes, this House regrets that there is not a monitoring mechanism in place to measure whether the Regulations will have a negative impact on the number of smokers using electronic cigarettes to give up smoking; that the Regulations are not to be accompanied by a public information campaign to reassure smokers that electronic cigarettes are less harmful than normal smoking; that smoking cessation services are being cut back at the same time as the Regulations are being introduced; and that the Regulations are due for implementation before the Government has published their tobacco strategy (SI 2015/507).

[Perpetua]

Jun 9, 2016 10:45:17 GMT digiw0rx said:

 the motion was dropped because Labour & Liberals stating they would be voting against it, it's ASH and the likes of Heidi Alexander (@heidi_mp) you should be angry at.

Indeed . . . . and forgive me for the political slant of this meme, but it seems entirely appropriate.

[faren]

[wil7985]

Jun 9, 2016 15:51:20 GMT faren said:

As much as it pains me to say it, I have to agree with this.