Lord Kamall (Con)

My Lords, this group of amendments in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Howe are probing the Government, in one way or another, on the question of consultation. What we seek to do is quite simple in many ways: to recognise that the impact of the Bill is not just on big tobacco, as many noble Lords have said; it will impact some vaping companies, not all of which are big tobacco. It is really important that we make that distinction. Some tobacco companies have vaping divisions. In fact, I have asked tobacco companies: when these Bills go through, what will you do and where will you diversify? It is very interesting to hear some of their answers, which I would be happy to share at some other stage. The other thing we need to understand is that this will impact retailers, some of which are specialists and some of which sell other products but this is part of their income stream. We want to make sure that we get the balance right. What we really want is to understand the nature of the consultation. Which voices with experience are being listened to? Which retailers are being listened to? On manufacturers, I want to be slightly careful, because I have had some conversations since these amendments were laid. In fact, I have been told by some people that we should not ask the manufacturers, particularly big tobacco, for their views. I have also been told that some companies do not want to be consulted, because that would be seen to be diluting the result of that consultation. Given that these are probing amendments, I will be a little careful about which manufacturers should be consulted and which should not.