Advertising Bill Third reading
13th Feb. 2001

I served on the Standing Committee, and I should like to make an input to the debate. As one who is new to this game, so to speak, I found the Standing Committee very educational. For example, Opposition Members wanted clarification about the word “advertising”. They must have asked for that about 10 times and, even though my hon. Friend the Minister told them on several occasions that the definition was in clause 1, they proceeded to ask on several further occasions why it was not also included in other parts of the Bill, and thus wasted time.

Earlier this evening, the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) mentioned an article in The Daily Telegraph, which gives us an idea of the kind of advertising to which the tobacco industry is now stooping. It explains how a woman approached six undergraduates and asked them whether they would like to earn £50. To do so, they would have to go into pubs smoking and–among other criteria that they would have to fulfil–circulate among the other people there. They would have to dress in a glamorous fashion, hand round cigarettes–giving them away–and leave packets of cigarettes on unattended tables. The aim was to attract people aged barely 18. As under-age drinking was taking place in some of the clubs involved, it was not possible to rule on the age of those smoking the cigarettes. The brand involved was Gauloises. It is not a cigarette with which I am familiar, but I have smelt it on occasion, and it is certainly recognisable by those who know someone who smokes it. What I have described is a particularly disgraceful type of advertising, which I hope the Bill will cover.
I think it will, but no doubt the Minister will clarify the position. I certainly hope that it will be covered, but that, if it is not, an appropriate amendment will be tabled in the other place. I do not wish to speak for long, mainly because I know that Opposition Members want to contribute–far be it from me to stop them–but I remind the House that the Bill has been introduced because 120,000 people die of tobacco-related illnesses each year. In 1996, 350,000 children aged between 11 and 15 were smoking regularly. I was sympathetic towards the amendment on product placement tabled by the hon. Member for Meriden, and I was sorry that the Government did not see fit to accept it. I fear that product placement is the tobacco industry’s next step down the road of attacking–as I would put it–young people, and trying to persuade them to smoke earlier. It is important for us to tackle such advertising. I congratulate The Daily Telegraph on its responsible article, although it is not a newspaper that supports my party very often. It has brought an issue to light, as I am sure the Minister will agree. I hope that, if there is a loophole in the Bill, it will be taken care of in the other place, and that the Minister will take that on board

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