Speeches by Osborne.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) for securing this debate. It is such an important topic, and the data has cross-country significance. She gave a powerful testimony about her own constituent and the impact on their f…”

“The hon. Lady is eloquently articulating the necessity of controls around advertising. Does she share my concern about the risk of creating a loophole, whereby advertising could still happen if there were warning notes on adverts? The Bill seeks to reduce any type of loophole through which an advertiser might promote v…”

“In relation to the MHRA, we know from our brief look at the data that one in three products contains impurities. That is data that is currently provided. We absolutely accept that we need a robust regulatory environment. Is the shadow Minister suggesting that the regulator should, or should not, be the MHRA, in this ca…”

“The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 specifically talks about Crown liability in this regard. It states that the Crown can have application only if it is applied to private individuals as well, so this entire conversation has already been covered in previous legislation.”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“When it comes to alcohol licensing, exceptions for members’ clubs are, of course, already in statute, so we do have exceptions in other licensing regimes. Does the hon. Lady agree that the online sale of vapes, which constitutes a significant market, might also be an exception with regard to brick and mortar premises? …”

“I understand that the term “cigarette paper” clearly indicates that the primary use for such an item is likely to be tobacco usage. However, it is not exclusive. As a model maker, I use cigarette papers in model making. I understand they are also used in art and in other activities. Although I am not suggesting that th…”

“On signs, if we accept the premise that the law is changed—as we have done in clause 1—to include a rolling scale with the date being 1 January 2009, signs will have to be updated in any event to reflect that. The current signs about being 18 would have to be removed. On the definition on the signs—tobacco products ver…”

“I appreciate the point that the hon. Lady is making and those that other Members have made. As I understand it, we already have a law that bans people from purchasing vapes from a customer-managed vending machine. The only vending machines that should be selling vapes are managed by someone else. Can I just clarify tha…”

“May I de-aggregate the two separate, distinct points about the age that will be defined on a driving licence or passport versus the concept of having ID? On the first point, most identity documents will contain a defined birth date, which makes it easier for a retailer or sales individual to check the date. They do not…”

“The Bill says that an individual may be liable for a fine, which means that other penalties up to £2,500 may be put in place. The Bill allows flexibility around the fines that might be issued, so I am struggling to understand, now I have made that point, why we are continuing to debate this. Is it the upper figure of £…”

“One of the challenges with introducing an age restriction of 25 is that a 19-year-old can smoke today, but that rule would suddenly take away a right that they previously had. However, the proposal on the table is for a sliding scale, whereby they will never have had the right to smoke. We are not taking away a right t…”

“T5. Pharmacy First is an incredibly popular service that has allowed many residents in Chatham and Aylesford to be referred for illnesses or urgent repeat medicine supplies. Can the Minister indicate whether there warrants a further review and expansion of this offering, to include further access to medicines, includin…”

“Q I have two questions. First, on digital taxation, I understand that under the previous Government, in March, vapes were to become digitally registered—with a digital tax—which should make it easier to identify fraud and misaligned products effectively. Is there any commentary around the implementation of that? Have y…”

“Q I have read some of your research from Edinburgh and have two questions relating to it. First, you said that in the research you undertook two years ago 40% of smokers thought that vaping was more harmful than cigarettes. What is the evidence base for that? Based on my understanding of the industry, and from elsewher…”

“Q My first question is on the enforcement element. We have had some correspondence and feedback that the £200 level is too low. I wonder whether councils or the Local Government Association have a view on the appropriate level. Conversely, if the level were too high, it would potentially damage high streets by loss of …”

“Q This is a question specifically on vapes. You mentioned earlier that because it is a new product, there is a lack of scientific consensus on the medium to long-term effects. Are we going to see publications around this over the next five to 10 years—maybe sooner? Presumably there have been clinical trials on these pr…”

“Q My question is about price. In this Bill, we are looking to ban disposable vapes, which, as a former teacher myself, I used to see in toilet bowls and other exciting locations in secondary schools, sadly. Do you think that that is going to have a major impact in the form of kids perhaps not being able to afford these…”

“Q To go back to my earlier question on product displacement, which you have alluded to, you said there is concurrent evidence that people who are smoking are also vaping. Is there any evidence that there might be a cobra effect whereby, because we are banning disposable vapes, we are increasing the price of vaping, so …”

“T8. BAE Systems in my constituency recently announced an extra £200 million in avionics investment to support the F-35 programme, which will secure 200 extra jobs in the Warren Wood area. Will the Minister commit to reviewing our investment in our defence industry, to ensure that more jobs are secured by well-trained y…”