The following is a guest post by the Rev Dr Peter Mullen, Hon. Chaplain of The Freedom Association. 

I’m not starry-eyed about the British newspapers. How could I be when I’ve read them and written for them all my working life? If ever I harboured any illusions, these were quickly dispelled back in the late 1980s when I was lucky enough to land myself a proper job in Fleet Street. Sir David English gave me a freelance contract on the Daily Mail to write op-ed pieces, travel articles and book reviews. And it really was Fleet Street in those days: the Daily Mail building was two minutes’ walk from St Bride’s, the wedding cake church so named after its unusual tower. I had a grand old time. I joined Scribes’ journalists’ drinking club and spent hours in The Cheshire Cheese,once a favourite watering-hole of Dr Johnson,  where I talked Old Leeds with Keith Waterhouse and cricket with Ian Wooldridge. I interviewed Daniel Barenboim in Munich and John Arlott in Alderney and I had dinner with Anthony Burgess and his wife in the West End. The first feature I was asked to write was about the Lockerbie disaster.

Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns, discusses Paperchase's decision to apologise for partnering with the Daily Mail in a promotional offer. 

There really isn't any evidence to prove that e-cigarettes encourage teenagers to smoke, and even this new research from the university of Leeds doesn't prove it. Even the researchers, according to Reuters, "urged caution in interpreting its results, noting that while e-cigarette use has increased in Britain, rates of smoking have continued to fall". 

Despite this, once again the Daily Mail latches on to the story in order to spread more misinformation. I know the British Medical Journal (BMJ) press release didn't help by saying that e-cigarettes may be prompting UK teens to try smoking. But even the BMJ covered itself by saying "may". 

In response to this article in the Daily Mail on 2 August, I wrote the following letter to the newspaper last week. 

Dear Sir, 

I refer to your article entitled "Warning on passive vaping in bars: Second-hand smoke from devices contain toxic chemicals that can irritate your eyes and skin" (Daily Mail 2nd August).