Contributions
1,317 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifth sitting)The clauses restate the ban on tobacco vending machines in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and extend it to include vending machines that sell cigarette papers. The…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifth sitting)Clauses 5, 6 and 72 replace the requirement for age of sale notices in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to reflect the new age of sale for tobacco products. Clause 55 provides…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)I am grateful for the opportunity to open this debate. Amendments 60 to 62, 70 to 72 and 77 to 79 would create a more lenient penalty regime for the offence of possessing the…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)I can easily clarify that point. The clause applies to relevant oral tobacco products, which are defined as tobacco products intended for oral use, not intended to be inhaled or…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)I will have to get back to the hon. Lady on that point. We will write to Committee members to update them, because I do not have that information to hand or in my mind. As I was…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)I am grateful to the shadow Minister for her comments. Although I appreciate her intention to establish greater leniency for first-time offenders, these amendments are not…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifth sitting)Perhaps we will return to that on Report. I have every sympathy with what the shadow Minister says. We do not want to prevent the legitimate use—indeed, a whole variety of uses—of…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Lady need not worry so much, because I have notes to clarify her points. Many people ask why we are banning snus but only gradually raising the age of sale for…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)I am grateful for that, and if any offence was caused by my earlier comments, I apologise to the hon. Lady. We need to set out clearly that we are doing something quite ingenious,…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. In responding to points that have been made, I want first to reiterate that these two clauses do not relate to…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Gentleman should panic not; I had not quite come to the end of my contribution. I was merely saying that it is for those reasons that I commend clause 10, clause 59 and…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)I will come to that; I am just spelling out why I am concerned about the consequences of the shadow Minister’s proposals in the amendment, because they would lead to more lenient…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)No, I will answer the hon. Lady. My officials and I have been in contact throughout the production of this Bill with officials and Ministers in the devolved Administrations. I…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)Sir Mark, the hon. Lady protests too much here, because while it is true that she was questioning why, for example, the English fines could not be the rate of the Northern Irish…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)It is good to see you back in the Chair, Sir Roger. Before addressing these amendments, the respective clauses and the proposed new clause, I want to make it clear that I will be…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifth sitting)Before we were rudely disturbed by the weekend—I hope that all Members had a good one—we were coming to the conclusion of the debate on this grouping. I thank all hon. Members for…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Lady teases me, Sir Mark, and I get her desire for scrutiny of the issue of fines and of the measures we will take to enforce these laws in England, where they stand at…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifth sitting)That is a good question. Of course, if it was to be used for the consumption of tobacco, it would come within the scope of the Bill. We have to be clear that many of these…14 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting)It does, for the reasons that I have set out. I thank my hon. Friend for pointing to the impact assessment, because it sets out a very clear reversal of the current situation, in…09 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting)At this rate, I am going to start referring to the hon. Gentleman as the hon. Member for the Institute of Economic Affairs—I am sure he has got the briefing. He probably sees that…09 Jan 2025