Last night the House of Commons passed the Bill which would introduce a smoke free generation by prohibiting the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009.
This is one of those issues where you can reach either conclusion from Liberal principles. This is why it was a free vote in Parliament.
So how did Liberal Democrat MPs vote?
38 voted in favour, 7 voted against and 27 did not vote.
Those in favour: Steff Aquarone, Alison Bennett, Jess Borwn-Fuller, Charlotte Cane, David Chadwick, Danny Chambers, Victoria Collins, Daisy Cooper, Adam Dance, Steve Darling, Lee Dillon, Sarah Dyke, Richard Foord, Andrew George, Marie Goldman, Monica Harding, Wera Hobhouse, Christine Jardine, Liz Jarvis, Ben Maguire, Mike Martin, Brian Mathew, Calum Miller, John Milne, Layla Moran, Edward Morello, Helen Morgan, Tessa Munt, Sarah Olney, Manuela Perteghella, Ian Roome, Vikki Slade, Jamie Stone, Luke Taylor, Cameeron Thomas, Max Wilkinson, Martin Wrigley and Claire Young.
Those against: Gideon Amos, Josh Babarinde, Bobby Dean, Tim Farron, Will Forster, Rachel Gilmour and Charlie Maynard
Any Lib Dem MP not named above, including Ed Davey and Wendy Chamberlain, did not record a vote.
Just over half MPs backed the Bill. The Scottish Government will be introducing a similar measure. Scottish Lib Dem Conference took a different view. While they were prepared to back further restrictions on outdoor spaces, they asked MSPs to oppose the Bill at Holyrood.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
The Joy of Six 1297
Weekly Road Report - West End Ward #dundeewestend
Brexit putting England and Wales tap water safety at risk
Regional Candidates Committee - let the verwaltung* commence (but not until the New Year)
Should Labour move to the right on immigration? The Week in Polls
4th Dec
David Garlick
Simon R
Mick Taylor
Diana Simpson
expats
19 Comments
Well done those 7 MPs that voted against.
A nanny state piece of legislation that just reinforces a snobbish elitist attitude from those in Westminster, against many working class people that enjoy a cigarette.
Actually I would suggest that there is only one way to vote if you hold to liberal principles.
As the great man said: “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.”
Congratulations to the 7 of our MPs who understood Mr Mill’s words.
Why has the tobacco industry never introduced nicotine-free tobacco? Is it because without the physical addiction to nicotine, no-one would smoke? I think the answer is yes. I ask as an ex (20 years this year) 40-a-day man who started smoking young, but wished he never had.
Smokers impose financial costs on all taxpayers by their excess demand on the NHS and fire service. We also pay for their pleasure in other ways such as the cost and inconvenience of robberies of convenience stores and removal of their litter.
As long as smoking products are taxed sufficiently to cover all the costs which their users impose on other taxpayers, the products should be allowed.
I am not sure people do enjoy a cigarette. Surely what they enjoy is the relief from the craving for a nicotine hit?
“Smokers impose financial costs on all taxpayers by their excess demand on the NHS and fire service.”
On the other hand smokers tend to die younger so don’t cost as much in pensions and longer term NHS and care costs. I seem to remember Sir Humphrey making this point in ‘Yes Minister’.
The thing impacting care costs won’t be the age at which a person dies but the extent of and duration of the care needed before they die. Action on Smoking and Health claim that Smokers’ need for health and social care at a younger age than non-smokers also creates costs, with smoking costing the NHS an additional £2.4bn and a further £1.2bn in social care costs. with additional costs unaccounted for due to care provided by family and friends (https://ash.org.uk/media-centre/news/press-releases/smoking-costs-society-17bn-5bn-more-than-previously-estimated)
“Smokers impose financial costs on all taxpayers by their excess demand on the NHS and fire service …”
So do people who buy fireworks … ban fireworks.
… as for cyclists who choose to forgo the protective shell of a car whilst out on the roads, imposing delays on law abiding motorists and imposing costs on the NHS – imprisonment is the only solution.
A complete waste of time. This law will eventually be scrapped because it will become unenforceable. Who is going to check that a 48 year old man born in 2008 is not buying cigs for his 47 year old friend?
I am all in favour of sensible measures that help people quit smoking but this is not a sensible measure.
Relief from the craving for a nicotine hit? I used to smoke and made a few attempts to give up before succeeding. I can still remember how the first cigarette after a period of abstinence made me feel sick and dizzy. But the second one was lovely 🙂
I eventually succeeded because I decided that no longer would big tobacco own my lungs. It took several years before the desire for nicotine went away completely.
However, I think that trying to stop people with laws makes no sense. Stop the ads, stop them showing smoking on TV. But the same arguments for nicotine apply to alcohol and all the other recreational drugs. Prohibition doesn’t work.
We have had more than a Century of the “War on Drugs” & its pretty clear that Drugs won. Banning Drugs causes massive amounts of damage to users lives, wastes Police & Prison resources & doesn’t work.
This won’t work either & will get in the way of measures that have worked.
Our performance on this demonstrates the failure of Our “Hard-working Councillors/MPs” strategy, once things get tough. Most of our MPs don’t seem to get Liberalism.
@Paul: What’s the evidence that banning drugs doesn’t work? The fact that people still take drugs? Well no, because we have no idea how many (more?) people would take drugs if there wasn’t a ban. But the fact that cigarettes (legal) are used massively more widely than drugs (illegal) strongly suggests that making drugs illegal does actually work: Sure, it doesn’t entirely eliminate their use but it does reduce it. The fact that smoking has declined so much and also become less socially acceptable since laws banning smoking in many workplaces and public spaces were introduced likewise suggests that those partial bans are effective.
This is very disappointing.
Where Liberal Democrats should be focusing our fire power is on banning nicotine vapes for children altogether, and now.
The disposable vape market has exploded in the last few years under the guise of ‘helping’ smokers to quit, it has morphed into an industry deliberately targeting children.
Yes, it has a place in helping adult smokers to quit, and is moderately successful, at least in the short term in doing that, but the tobacco companies have used this time to cleverly capture a whole new generation of nicotine addicts though the sale of cheap, sweet and fruit flavoured, impossible to dispose of plastic vapes, prominently and colourfully displayed in almost every shop, which can be bought by children for pocket money.
A local shop near me, sells them for £5 each or 5 for £20, a bargain.
You may be as astounded as I was to learn that a disposable vape contains the same amount of nicotine as 2 packs of traditional cigarettes, enough to start on the road to addiction with one vape, for one sixth of the price of traditional cigarettes, definitely a bargain. The tobacco companies must be laughing their heads off with this loss leader.
They have created another generation of potential life-long addicts in plain sight. Nearly 10% of 11-17year olds are regularly vaping. Given the plasticity of the adolescent brain, these children will most likely be addicted for life.
The BMA had recently released a policy paper on vapes called Taking Our Breath Away: why we need stronger vaping legislation. It sets out all the evidence and makes recommendations, its well worth reading. It would make a pretty good Lib Dem policy more or less as it stands.
We have a moral and legal duty to protect children from harm, enshrined in national and international law. That includes nicotine, and is no less important than our need to protect them from alcohol and other addictive substances and activities.
I hope that when the government brings forward legislation to ban disposable vapes next summer, as it has indicated it will, that ALL Lib Dem MPs can back it.
Adults can of course make their own choices.
” making drugs illegal does actually work”
Assuming your objective was to create large, rich criminal gangs, violence on the streets, dubious quality products, potential overdoses from miscalculations, and a large population of “criminals” in jail, I’m sure you’re right.
Agree with Jenny, the argument for de-criminalising drugs is overwhelming.
So once again we see the lesson from history of what happens when a drug like tobacco in the form of cigarettes can be easily and legally obtained: The millions of lives devastated, people living out years of their lives with awful lung conditions, relatives having to care for them for years until they die in a manner that you wouldn’t wish on anyone. And many of us (rightly IMO) conclude that this suffering can’t go on and we need to (eventually) completely ban cigarettes in order to prevent the cigarette manufacturers from pushing that addiction and that fate onto ever more people.
And then we mysteriously completely fail to apply that lesson to other equally dangerous drugs!
Last time I looked libs were in favour of decriminalising Cannabis & lowering the voting age to 16 …It sends out totally contradictory messages that someone can sit on their sofa and smoke a spliff, but can’t smoke or vape a nicotine product … Votes for those ages 16 but never old enough to decide for themselves what constitutes as harm on a personal level …
Illiberal & a black marketeers paradise…
From some of the comments, it seems it should be legal for legal businesses to sell addictive drugs such as nicotine and Fentanyl and advertise them as lifestyle accessories, naturally it is also okay for children to ape adults and purchase such products and thus contribute to the personal wealth of the business owners….