Following the Second Reading of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill yesterday (April 16th), Rachel said:
“I am not a smoker or a supporter of smoking, and I understand the harm it causes, both for children and adults. I have lost loved ones to smoking related diseases. I am a mother and grandmother and would not want my loved ones to smoke or start to smoke. I therefore fully understand and respect the motivation behind the smoking ban legislation and the public health arguments.
“However, I was always uncomfortable with the concept behind the policy and its workability and enforceability. Moreover, I do not believe restricting individual freedom for adults is the right way to tackle smoking related harms to people and the economy.
“I was therefore grateful that the Prime Minister made this a free vote. I thought about this in great depth and in the end, for me, the disadvantages outweighed the advantages, and the laudable end did not justify the means for a number of reasons.
“First, I don't believe in banning things full stop. We live in a free country and people are allowed to do a lot of things that are "bad" for them both physically and mentally, such as drink alcohol, eat a poor diet, take no exercise, and spend too long looking at smart phones, social media and TikTok. Banning any of these things would not stop people doing them and forces more and more government and state regulation and overbearing enforcement into the lives of individual people.
“We should of course seek to work with human nature, not against it. It’s right we support public health measures on all these fronts, but long-term sustainable changes will only be made by education and behaviour change. Smoking rates are already declining, so let’s do more of the things we know work to drive these down.
“Second, smoking is already illegal for children, so a lot of the arguments advanced in favour of this ban would not stop people smoking, it would instead drive a black market and a criminal trade which would involve ever greater amounts of public money and police time - all paid for by you, the taxpayer, to patrol and enforce this inevitable blight in our communities.
“Third, there is no established evidence base to demonstrate this policy would actually work in practise. The only country to try it - New Zealand - has recently backtracked, so the UK is now embarking on a huge experiment.
“Fourth, I am alarmed that all of those experts and academics who have called for this ban have said that the natural next step is to ban or restrict meat, alcohol, sugar and many other things. It opens the door unacceptably wide to ever more regulation of what should be free private life. I felt it was important therefore to make a stand in line with my principles and values.
“Fifth, I believe this legislation will require more taxpayers money to be spent on implementing it and enforcing it, as well as compensating those shops and businesses who will lose their livelihood. I would rather that money was spent on the Alex Hospital and local GP services.
“I will continue to dedicate myself to campaigning for our local health facilities and support in Redditch and the Villages, securing the first class health facilities we all deserve."
