Fifty Conservative MPs demand a free vote on shop tobacco display ban

by Paul Goodman

Jonathan has noted that the biggest Conservative backbench rebellion of this Parliament was over smoking.  77 Tory MPs backed David Nuttall's ten minute rule bill to relax the present ban.  The MP for Bury North argued that it's forced pub closures, and flies in the face of localism and freedom.

The EU (in the news this morning), crime, tax - all these are well known causes of Conservative backbench rebellion.  But the backing that Tory MPs gave to Nuttall's bill is a reminder that though smoking is a less well recognised issue, it can provoke no less primal a response.

Andrew Lansley and Vince Cable should therefore eye carefully a letter about Labour's tobacco display ban that's about to land on their desks.  It reminds them of "the pre-election pledges of both the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat Party to reconsider the tobacco display ban", adding that "there is a very high level of expectation" that the Coalition will honour these commitments.

The letter has been signed to date by 53 Coalition MPs, all but five of them Conservative, but "more signatures are being added to all the time, meaning that over 50 Tories have signed".  Signatures known to date are as follows -

1. Nigel Adams
2. David Amess
3. Guto Bebb
4. Alan Beith
5. Brian Binley
6. Nick Boles
7. Karen Bradley
8. Graham Brady
9. Therese Coffey
10. Tracey Crouch
11. Philip Davies
12. David Davis
13. Jackie Doyle-Price
14. Charlie Elphicke
15. Michael Ellis
16. Don Foster
17. Zac Goldsmith
18. Andrew Griffiths
19. Robert Halfon
20. Richard Harrington
21. Chris Heaton-Harris
22. John Hemming
23. Gordon Henderson
24. Simon Hughes
25. Gareth Johnson
26. Marcus Jones
27. Simon Kirby
28. Brandon Lewis
29. Karl McCartney
30. Paul Maynard
31. Stephen Metcalfe
32. Nigel Mills
33. Penny Mordaunt
34. Nicky Morgan
35. Stephen Mosley
36. Caroline Nokes
37. David Nuttall
38. Richard Ottaway
39. Priti Patel
40. Andrew Percy
41. Chris Pincher
42. Mark Pritchard
43. Mark Reckless
44. Adrian Sanders
45. Henry Smith
46. Gary Streeter
47. Graham Stuart
48. Justin Tomlinson
49. Elizabeth Truss
50. Robin Walker
51. Mike Weatherley
52. Craig Whittaker
53. John Whittingdale.

The letter argues that the ban -

• Will disadvantage small shops.
• Won't reduce smoking, on the evidence available.
• And has no public support.

On the second point, it quotes Mike Penning, now a Transport Minister and formerly a Shadow Health Minister.  He told the Commons last year -

“I have looked long and hard for evidence from around the world that the Government’s proposals (to ban displays at the point of sale) are sufficiently evidence-based, but I do not think that they are".

Mike Weatherley has written previously on the matter for ConservativeHome here.  Lansley is apparently due to make an announcment shortly.  53 MPs is a significant number, and the Health Secretary should be mindful of the Conservative pre-election pledge to hold a free vote on the matter.