Member

There were a couple of criticisms of these proposals in Committee: that allowing marketing of this type could mean that these products are seen as recreational, and that under-18s are often able to slip into age-restricted environments. I will quickly address both these points. The Advertising Standards Authority, and with these amendments the Government, can make very specific regulations about how these products are presented to ensure that no recreational messaging could be used if this was a concern. Vaping is already heavily regulated in terms of advertising by the Advertising Standards Authority and that could easily be strengthened. The argument about under-18s slipping into these environments rather makes a mockery of the entire principle of the age verification on which the success or failure of the Bill depends. I suggest that it would be somewhat ironic and illogical to depend on that argument.