Cigarettes and plain packaging: Cameron ‘makes U-turn’

Plain-packaged cigarettes will be in shops before the next election, following another government review of the situation in Australia.

It is expected to report back in March and support the case for changing packaging.

Just tried to ask the PM about cigarette packaging. He didn’t answer but No.10 staff ripped microphone out of our camera @Channel4News

— Tim Bouverie (@TimPBouverie) November 28, 2013

The idea of banning branding was controversially shelved in July, with the government insisting it had not bowed to tobacco industry lobbying and it wanted to see how it worked in Australia.

But health minister Jane Ellison said today that paediatrician Sir Cyril Chantler has been asked to carry out a review of the evidence, which will be completed by March.

Read more: The plain truth about cigarette packaging - FactCheck

At the same time, changes will be made to the Children and Families Bill currently going through Parliament so the ban can be implemented quickly if recommended.

“We are asking Sir Cyril Chantler, who is a very distinguished paediatrician, to look at the evidence,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “We think the time is right to look at it.”

Australia

Ms Ellison denied that introducing plain packaging had been “ruled out” over the summer.

“What the government said in July was that it would look at the emerging evidence from Australia and elsewhere,” she said.

“We have listened hard to what both houses of Parliament have said over recent weeks, where it’s been very clear that members in both the House of Lords and House of Commons feel that there is not just emerging evidence in Australia but other studies.”

The govt should have introduced plain packaging earlier this year. The British people deserve more than a govt buffeted around by events.

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) November 28, 2013

She accused Labour of being “rather miserable” for suggesting that the government was merely trying to avoid a defeat in the Lords, where a vote on the issue is due shortly.

“People do feel strongly, and quite rightly, This is fundamentally about children’s health. We know that two-thirds of people start smoking when they are children,” she said.

“It is quite a complex area of policy and we know from the Australian experience that it is quite controversial… It is a quick review, we’ve asked Sir Cyril to report by March, to have a look, to take that independent view, to step back from the politics of this and to survey the evidence for us.

“I think that is a sensible next step in making policy in this area.”

Govt already have an evidence review to support standardised packaging of tobacco: https://t.co/ymoPX9JC9m why do we need another review?

— Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) November 28, 2013

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: “If the government was serious it would be taking action now to cut the harm to children. Instead we have got another review.

“Why have we got this announcement now? It’s because the government was on the verge of losing a vote in the House of Lords in the next couple of weeks.

“I don’t believe this is a serious move, that they are now converted to the cause. It’s just a tactic to avoid embarrassment in the House of Lords.”

Labour previously accused David Cameron of “bringing big tobacco to the heart of Downing Street” by hiring lobbyist Lynton Crosby as a key election adviser.

Mr Crosby denies having “any conversation or discussion” with the prime minister on the issue.”

Campaign

Dr Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Stopping cigarettes being marketed to children as a glamorous and desirable accessory is one of the greatest gifts we can give the next generation.

“If this becomes law next year there is no question that it will save thousands of lives in the future.”

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “This is an early Christmas present for all of the campaigners that have been working tirelessly to save young lives.

“Introducing standardised packs could prevent a generation of young people starting a deadly and highly addictive habit.

“We hope that today’s decision is the first step towards a policy that changes the way cigarettes are marketed for good and protects the health of many people.”

Lynton Crosby

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said: “The government with the number of its recent U-turns must be getting mighty dizzy, but this is one very much to be welcomed, since it finally points it in the right direction.

“Back in July there were concerns about the role of Lynton Crosby, tobacco industry lobbyist, in the government’s decision-making about plain packets for cigarettes.

“We can definitely see the influence of Lynton Crosby, election adviser, in this reversal.

“Now we can only hope for a related U-turn, on another important public health issue – the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol.”

Read more: Crosby, lobbying and cigarettes

But Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “This could potentially be a very disappointing U-turn by the government.

“Plain packaging will have a negligible impact on health, will boost the black market, and do enormous harm to small businesses.

“In the words of David Cameron, let’s treat adults like adults and give them more responsibility over their own lives.

“It’s about time the government looked towards education rather than even heavier regulation of a legal product enjoyed by millions of ordinary consumers.”