Six of the 15 MPs who have registered a financial interest related to a tobacco company have spoken out against proposal

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

More than a third of the MPs who have registered a financial interest related to a tobacco company have spoken out against a proposal to bring forward a law on plain cigarette packaging since it was announced on Wednesday.

In a surprise move, the health minister Jane Ellison said the government would give MPs a vote on the proposed law before May, and before the end of a consultation exercise.

Since then six of the 15 MPs who have declared “gifts, benefits and hospitality” related to a tobacco company in the current register of MPs’ interests (pdf) have criticised the plan.

All six were given a £1,404 trip to the Chelsea flower show that included a day pass and lunch for themselves and their spouses paid for by Japan Tobacco International, whose cigarette brands include Winston, Camel, Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut.

Five were Conservatives: Gerald Howarth, Angela Watkinson, Christopher Chope, Simon Hart and Glyn Davies. The sixth was Labour’s Gerry Sutcliffe.

Howarth condemned plain packaging as an “example of the nanny state”. Speaking in parliament, he said Australia’s experience since it had introduced plain packaging suggested more cigarettes would be sold on the black market.

“At present 13% of packs sold are illicit, denying the Treasury £3bn. If the Australian experience is anything to go by, that number is likely to rocket,” he said.

Watkinson told parliament that the public were already “constantly” warned about the health risks of smoking.

Chope asked Ellison: “What evidence is there that young people do not access illegal drugs as much because they are sold in plain packages?”

Hart said: “The minister will be aware that it is already an offence to smoke in public under the age of 16 and to purchase tobacco under the age of 18. Would it be a good start to ensure that the current laws work before we start imposing new ones?”

Davies did not speak in the debate but tweeted: “Hate banning things. Govt disease. Began eating beef again during BSE scare. Will have to consider smoking again after giving up 40 yrs ago.”

Labour’s Sutfcliffe said: “I do not want to see young people smoking, but I have concerns about standardised packaging, for two reasons. One is illicit trade, and I will give evidence on that and perhaps meet the minister and her colleagues about that illicit trade and its impact on our constituencies.”

Sutcliffe’s Labour colleague Simon Danczuk, who was also given a trip to Chelsea flower show by JTI, did not speak in the debate. But in September 2014 he spoke out against plain packaging in a interview for Better Retailing.