Good Evans
It probably passed you by, but on Tuesday the Welsh Senedd passed a legislative consent motion (LCM) in support of the UK government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
The Welsh Government website reports that, ahead of the vote, mental health and wellbeing minister Sarah Murphy ‘met school children and heard a poem they had written about smoke-free futures. They had also gathered pledges of support for their vision of a smoke-free generation’.
The picture they posted features what looks like primary school children which always makes me uncomfortable because you do wonder whether the children involved are being manipulated, which doesn’t sit well with me.
Inevitably, members of the Senedd voted overwhelmingly in favour of the LCM with 36 in favour, two abstentions, and nine against. One of those who voted against was Conservative health spokesman, James Evans. As in Westminster, Conservatives had a free vote on the issue, but he would be voting against, he said, "because I do not agree with the generational smoking ban element of it.”
“There are elements of this Bill which I am not against. But I do have serious concerns about banning of tobacco to anyone born after a certain time. This is an overreach of the state and will prove to be ineffective in stopping young people from smoking. If people want to smoke, they will. I believe this will lead to increased illegal sales of cigarettes, which we all know are very dangerous …
“There has to be some personal decision making. At 18 you can decide whether you want to drink alcohol, you could be paying taxes, voting etc – yet this legislation is saying you cannot smoke. The Welsh Government should be focussing their efforts on helping people to stop smoking, both cigarettes and vapes – not curtailing our freedoms. What’s next?”
See Concerns raised over UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill
There are 60 seats in the Senedd. Labour currently hold 29, the Conservatives 14, Plaid Cymru 13, Lib Dems 1, Reform 1, plus two independents, so nothing was going to change the outcome of the vote, but it was good to see there are still some Conservatives who believe in choice and personal responsibility and are prepared to say so publicly.
Below: A smokers’ right campaigner on ITV Wales at Six on Tuesday. I recorded a short interview earlier in the day and they included a soundbite in their report.
