Responding to the positive report on e-cigarettes and tobacco harm reduction from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns for The Freedom Association, who runs the Freedom to Vape campaign, said:

"This report is very welcome. We have campaigned for over two years for the restrictions that are placed on vapers and the vaping industry in the EU's Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), to be scrapped. We are pleased that the committee agrees that there is no scientific rationale behind the restrictions in the strength of e-liquid and the size of tanks.

"Public Health England has described e-cigarettes as the number one quit aid in the UK. That in itself should be a good enough reason to ease advertising restrictions. We are pleased that the committee agrees. 

The Freedom Association's 'Freedom to Vape' campaign has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Health Secretary urging them to abandon plans to introduce a vape tax. 

In a joint letter to Philip Hammond and Matt Hancock signed by the Institute of Economic Affairs, TaxPayers' Alliance, Centre for Policy Studies, Adam Smith Institute, New Nicotine Alliance, UK Vaping Industry Association, and The Freedom Association, the Government was reminded that it "must continue to be an international standard-bearer for harm reduction public health policy". 

I had an enjoyable evening yesterday at an event hosted by the New Statesman and sponsored by Philip Morris International (PMI). How long will it take before the country becomes smoke-free? As Mark Littlewood, Director General of the Institute of Economic Affiars and one of the panellists, said, considering the definition of smoke-free is under five per cent of the population, we can say that the UK is heroin free! (The other panellists were Dr. Roger Henderson, a GP and smokign cessation expert, and Sarah Jakes, Chair of the New Nicotine Alliance. The session was chaired by Anna Hodgekiss, a freelance health/medical journalist) 

Thankfully all the panellists agreed that forcing people to give up smoking is not the way to proceed. It is about giving smokers options. All the panellists readily agreed that vaping is not for everyone. Just because it worked for me, doesn't mean that someone else will want different options such as heat not burn. 

Australia's vaping laws really do take some understanding. Basically, as explained in this post on Ozvapour.com:

"The baseline is that because nicotine is classed as a Schedule 7 poison in Australia, it’s illegal to sell it except as a licensed medication.

"That means disposable e-cigarettes or cartridges that contain nicotine are not for sale right across the country, but nicotine free ones and refillable devices can be sold unless state law bans them."

There was a time when we valued private property rights. As long as it was legal, what consenting adults did was no-one else's business. That's how it used to be. Now we have busybodies from Government, councils and Quangos sticking their noses in where it's not wanted. 

We know that vaping in enclosed spaces is legal. We know that e-cigarettes are not harmful to bystanders. Councils should know this, although judging by its entry in last year's 'Vaping Policies in UK Councils' report, Calderdale likes to exist in blissful ignorance. It is one of those councils that sends vapers into designated smoking areas, even though it reviewed its vaping policy in September 2017 as a result of the Government's Tobacco Control Plan. Councillors are not going to be given the opportunity to discuss this policy either. But they will be discussing vaping next Monday. 

After reading Victoria Coren Mitchell's column in yesterday's Observer, I can see that she doesn't have a clue what she is talking about when it comes to vaping. She has her own prejudices and has either not bothered reading about the science behind vaping, or has decided to ignore it. She didn't take long to get revved up:

"In my opinion, it’s appalling that a state-funded, state-sanctioned public health body should recommend vapes to people who want to stop smoking. E-snout would probably be available on the NHS already, were it not for the fact that medical licensing requires them actually to justify health claims made on their behalf..."

It is very good news that Public Health England (PHE) is being more supportive of vaping. Very good news indeed. It wants hospitals to be able to sell e-cigarettes and also it encourages hospitals to introduce vaping areas, even in private rooms for patients who are in hospital for a long time. 

But the call for an easier route for manufacturers to get a medicinal licence is unnecessary.  

Yesterday, Theresa May pledged to eradicate all avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042. It is a worthy goal, and will be popular since nobody really likes waste, especially if it is entirely unnecessary. And at Freedom to Vape, we have a great suggestion for Mrs May as to how she can save a massive amount of plastic waste in one fell swoop.

One of the aims of Freedom to Vape is to lobby the government for removal of pointless regulations on vaping imposed by the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), one of which is limiting e-liquid bottle sizes to 10ml for no discernible reason.

Earlier this month, on behalf of the Freedom to Vape campaign, I submitted evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee as part of the committee's investigation into e-cigarettes. 

The evidence has been published and can be read here. 

Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns, was invited to take part in a discussion on vaping on the BBC Sunday Politics programme in Yorkshire & Lincolnshire on 3 December. 

Click below to watch it.