Tobacco Packaging

Debate between Jake Berry and Angela Watkinson

Thursday 7th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Watkinson (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)]

May I begin by drawing the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests? I speak as a lifelong non-smoker. I have never smoked and I do not intend ever to smoke. That is my choice, and such a choice is open to anyone, but there has been a huge change in the culture surrounding smoking since I was a child. I do not know whether anyone in the Chamber is as ancient as me, but if they are, they will remember a television advert saying, “You’re never alone with a Strand”. It had a picture of a glamorous, enigmatic man with the collar of his raincoat turned up. He was smoking, and every man wanted to be like him because he was glamorous and mysterious. Hollywood stars, who appeared to spend their entire lives in evening dress, had long cigarette holders and the practice was presented as glamorous, attractive and sophisticated. People of my age at that time could not wait to grow up and reach 16 so that they could smoke—everybody did—because it was a sign that someone had grown up. I suppose that it was a blessing that I was brought up poor and working class. I could not afford to buy cigarettes and I should probably be grateful for that fact now, as it meant that I never took up the habit.

A couple of hon. Members have referred to the harrowing experience of losing a parent to cancer. I share that experience, although it was not smoking-related in my case. It is important that the education on smoking that I never received as a child, nor for several years afterwards, is now available to our younger generation. It was normal for me to see every adult around me smoking, but that is not normal now. If one goes past a place of work, however, there will be a group of people outside smoking, leaving a carpet of cigarette ends on the ground. That is a cause for complaint for all the non-smokers in that organisation, who know that smokers get smoking breaks from time to time during the day that they do not.

In a previous life, when I worked in local government, the one recreation room for staff had to be surrendered to the smokers because the council was obliged to provide a smoking room. It had glass walls, and as one walked around, all one could see was a great fug of smoke. Again, people in there were spending time on breaks that non-smokers were not allowed to take.

I pay tribute to the schools in Hornchurch and Upminster for the important work they are doing to educate our children from the youngest age. They have citizenship classes and school councils, and they take anti-smoking education extremely seriously.

The purpose of plain packaging is mainly to deter young people from taking up smoking and, hopefully, to deter established smokers. As has become obvious, there is consensus on both sides of the House that we should do everything we can to deter young people from taking up smoking and to enable them to understand the health implications of which people were not aware years ago. When I was a child, the health implications of smoking were never mentioned.

The first question we need to ask ourselves is: would plain packaging work? Secondly, what would be the effect on illicit tobacco sales and products? Finally, what would be the effect on small retailers and the design and packaging industry? Several speakers have referred to the fact that plain packaging has been introduced in Australia, but that was only about a year ago. I think that it is far too soon for us to make a credible evaluation of how effective the measure has been on young new smokers and existing smokers.

In 2008, the Department of Health identified the predictors of smoking initiation as age, gender, home environment, drug use and alcohol. Truancy and exclusion from school were also factors, but not packaging or the appearance of tobacco products—and, strangely, not price. When I was young, price was the one thing that stopped me smoking. Had I been able to afford it, I probably would have tried it. The NHS study “Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2011” reported that 5% of 11 to 15-year-olds smoked regularly—that is, at least one cigarette a week. That sounds to me as though one child who could afford a packet of cigarettes was handing them around to their friends. That was half the number reported in 2001 and it compared favourably with the 6% who said that they had taken drugs in the past month.

There are better solutions to reduce the number of young people who take up smoking. Such smoking is at an all-time low of 5%, but we need to do more. We must not underestimate the influence of fashion and trends on young people, and if smoking becomes the in thing again, that percentage could rise.

[Jake Berry]

On the question of smoking becoming fashionable again, what is my hon. Friend’s view on recent concerns about electronic cigarettes? Of course, they are not covered by the 2007 legislation and they can be smoked indoors in bars, clubs, pubs and restaurants. Recently, e-cigarette fluid has been marketed in champagne, vodka and bubblegum flavours. Is she concerned about that?

[Dame Angela Watkinson]

I must confess that I have tried e-cigarettes. I tried an apple-flavoured one, and it was quite an attractive, comforting thing to do.

I was a co-signatory to the open letter from my hon. Friend the Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley) that highlighted the dangers posed by plain packaging to jobs, businesses, tax revenue and the legal trade due to increased smuggling and counterfeiting. Plain packaging would make smuggling easier and cheaper, and such products could be manufactured without regulation or quality control—I am told that some contain quite noxious additives. That situation could only exacerbate the associated criminality and revenue loss.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs estimates that in my constituency of Hornchurch and Upminster, and those of other hon. Members, up to one in six cigarettes and 48% of hand-rolling tobacco is already illegal, costing the Exchequer up to £3 billion a year. If plain packaging were introduced, those figures would undoubtedly rise.

Plain packaging would also have a negative impact on small convenience stores. The display ban that is already in place in large stores will cover small shops in 2015. Most customers make additional purchases when buying their cigarettes and that custom is essential to the viability of small shops. I was in my local newsagent recently, standing behind somebody who was buying a packet of cigarettes. There was a warning on it in big, bold letters to the effect that smoking can kill. One could not possibly miss it, so that person had made a conscious choice to disregard the warning on the packet.

Plain packaging would also have a devastating effect on the supply chain for the tobacco sector, particularly as regards the design and production of branded packaging. That would stifle innovation, development and competition. It would be likely that lobby groups would continue to campaign for other product groups, such as alcohol or certain foods, to be subject to similar measures. That would be the thin end of the wedge, and it would pose a further threat to the design and packaging sectors and to the freedom of customers to make informed choices.

The Government are already investing significantly in anti-smoking measures. Anyone who wants to stop can get smoking cessation courses free of charge. We have television adverts and hoardings on the street, and there cannot be anybody in the country who does not know the health risks of smoking. People make a choice about whether to do it. As far as children are concerned, the principal responsibility lies with their parents, who should know how much money their children have to spend—a packet of cigarettes is very expensive—and how they spend it unsupervised.