Contributions
1,317 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I am grateful to the shadow Minister for moving the new clause tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend. New clause 5 would introduce a ban on…30 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifteenth sitting)That is way above my pay grade. It is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and I have already assured my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford that I…30 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I am grateful to the shadow Minister for bringing this discussion before the Committee today. New clause 8 would require the Government to produce annual reports on the scale of…30 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifteenth sitting)We are very clear about the measures in the Bill that we will consult on, but I reassure my hon. Friend that I am in regular contact with Ministers across Government about a whole…30 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifteenth sitting)It is a pleasure to see you back in the Chair, Mr Pritchard. There is light at the end of the tunnel: today is the day that we will have a Bill in one shape or another, having…30 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixteenth sitting)Well, if we have not heard from ChatGPT, we have certainly had, through the Institute of Economic Affairs, a bit of ChatSHT.30 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I can speak only for England, but I am legislating for the United Kingdom with the permission of Health Ministers. It may well be that Health Ministers in other parts of the…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I am grateful to the shadow Minister, who is now making my case perfectly for why we need to have the regulations as we do. It may well be that, at some stage in the future, a…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting)But he supported it.28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I have at no stage said that Ministers would not come back to Parliament. What I have said is that we should not be seeking to find one of those rare things—a slot in a King’s…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford for putting this amendment before the Committee for discussion. The amendment would require the Government, within six…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)We will have to agree to disagree, because I think anything that brings in lesser penalties than those that already exist in tobacco control, and I will resist that as I resisted…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)I will come to the shadow Minister’s point at the end, but first I want to nail the pernicious lie peddled by the tobacco industry that there is a tobacco product that is an…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)Clause 136 amends an existing power in the Health Act 2006, relating to the designation of additional smoke-free places, to allow the Secretary of State to make regulations to any…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)My hon. Friend, who has done so much work in this area over such a long period of time, is absolutely right. I will come to some of the enforcement arguments. Our primary aim is…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)I will come on to those points in due course to explain to the Committee why I think the shadow Minister is wrong in this regard and why she was wrong in all previous discussions…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)The hon. Gentleman obviously wrote it after being inspired by his wonderful dinner with members of the idiotic economic arguments committee. I only half jest and half pull his…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourteenth sitting)I refer the shadow Minister to the answer I gave some moments ago. These are all matters of detail that will be subject to consultation. We will have the arguments as to the…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting)No, but the point the hon. Lady is making is about what conversations Ministers have had with other Ministers to extend the scope, to protect the rights of others and so on. It is…28 Jan 2025HANSARDTobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I certainly can. I have had umpteen conversations with Health Ministers from across the United Kingdom, and none of them has indicated to me that they intend to extend this to…28 Jan 2025