Justifying the new legislation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “If we want to build a better future for our children we need to tackle the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability and death: smoking”.

The problem with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is that it doesn’t just address smoking, it seeks to limit access to vapes and grants powers to the Government to make them less attractive to adult smokers.

“We are a libertarian party,” Tory MP Greg Smith told journalists. “Or many of us are, and this is not a very liberal measure. I would anticipate there will be a significant bite-back. There could be upwards of 80 MPs on the Conservative benches opposing this. I’m not a smoker, nor have I ever been, but I do recognise that this is about telling adults what they can and can’t do. It’s also going to place extra pressures on small businesses at a time when they are facing significant additional overheads”.

A number of high profile Tories have already voiced their opposition to the Bill, including ex-Prime Minister and economic genius Liz Truss.

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, commented: “The UK’s latest turnaround on vaping flavours is not just misguided, it’s dangerously out of touch with scientific reality. By pushing restrictions on flavours, the Sunak government blatantly disregards a wealth of scientific evidence that underscores the benefits of vaping when compared to alternatives. Flavoured e-cigarettes have been proven to increase the chances of successful smoking cessation by 230% compared to non-flavoured alternatives. It’s appalling to see such a pivotal public health tool being dismissed by the government that used to be at the forefront of harm reduction.”

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