Member

We must be specific. I am sure that the Minister will reassure us that well-behaving shops will be treated appropriately. That may be the case today, under sensible councillors, but imagine if one of the councils were to be run by the Green Party, for example. The noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, who is not in her place, has made clear her opposition to cigars, citing unsubstantiated data that 35% of 11 to 17 year-olds had tried a cigarillo in the last year alone. By the way, machine-made cigarillos are a totally different product which we do not defend and which are not relevant to this debate. She and the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, of the Liberal Democrats, slightly bizarrely suggested that cigars were somehow the preserve of the masculine right, led by Andrew Tate. Are they suggesting that I am some sort of red-pill masculine chauvinist? Such stereotypes do not do credit to the industry and the people who are trying to make a living within it. Also, I should point out that I have never circuit trained, in case anyone was concerned, and every cigar smoker I know is marked out by their mild manner and sensible politics.