Read this! TPD European regulations come into effect tomorrow: Or do they (UK)?
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Kill Motion 
Please do sign the petition and support Lord Callanan in this. If signing the petition, do be honest about where you're writing from (when I signed it at work today, in the UK, it came up in French for some reason!) and if you're not in the UK, explain why this is important to you as a non-UK citizen.
Please do also write to Lord Callanan, even if you're not a UK citizen, and explain why this is important to you. Whatever my thoughts about the constitutional arrangements of the UK, I've noticed that the Upper House (as I'd prefer the House of Lords to be called) debates things in a far more rational, slow way than the Commons, where debate gets a bit too yo'mama for anything interesting to happen. You can find news on this here: Lord's Last Ditch Attempt to Save Vaping - Ashtray Blog - way down the page is a "Politics" section where you can find a link to the debate last week, which illustrates the slow, thoughtful style of the Lords very well.
We need everyone to add their voice to this, wherever they're from, writing honestly about their concerns as a citizen of whatever country. I've been off the case myself in the last year or so, but as an example, I'm disgusted by how my American friends are being led down a path of quasi-prohibition by some of the worst, most dishonest people in America. I'd love to visit and enjoy the USA again and not find a vape-free desert of "virtuous" people!
The anti-ecig zealots love to claim victories in one country and then use that to claim legitimacy. So, though I'm sorry I haven't paid so much attention to what's happening in the USA recently, we could really use support from people from anywhere. Within Europe, I think we in the UK may be a wedge.
For example, Hungary has completely capitulated to the TPD, partly because the government has a vested political interest in the "Nemzeti Dohányboltok" - tobacco shops which were set up a few years ago as the only legal cigarette sellers, and whose licences were almost universally granted to supporters of (hmmm.. contributors to?) the ruling political party. Long-established shops went bust, and some remote villages ended up with no shop because of this. That was already a scandal when it happened, but the Hungarian implementation of the TPD includes - surprise, surprise, only these shops will be able to sell e-cig products.
We in the UK are of course corrupt as well, but in a different way. (We are often "innocently" corrupt by simply looking the other way at the critical time. This is especially useful when someone turns up with a lot of money to invest...
)
But this is an opportunity to put a hole in the TPD below the waterline. We all know that there are people in every European country who hate this idiotic, antidemocratic, irrational law. I've picked up EFVI leaflets in Hungarian and Slovenian when buying e-juice (and been able to read them very slowly over two hours, in the case of the Hungarian one, and not at all, in the case of the Slovenian one).
There's no need to invoke any idiotic conceptions of British superiority at this point, especially at this point in political time when any talk about Europe in Britain is horribly polarised. All that matters is that if just one government resists the TPD, it might make some difference. And since that government is my government, I can make a difference (which I'm not capable of doing in Hungarian or Slovenian).
I have to add that this is a development worth pursuing and supporting. From previous experience as an activist trying to influence UK politics, I can say that: I know nothing about Lord Callanan. But the comments I get from online are "extremely experienced politician".
According to my own inexperienced judgment, this is proved accurate. This is a for-real political manoeuvre, not just a protest. The timing is superb. On June 23rd, everyone in the UK votes in a referendum about remaining part of the EU or leaving. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has thrown himself completely into the "Remain" camp. The ruling Conservative Party is badly split on the EU-or-not issue. It's a sensitive time for the ruling party, which has a majority of only 12 in the (elected) Commons.
There are many established conventions in UK politics about the limits of the (appointed, but also some hereditary) Lords' power to disturb decisions made by the (elected) Commons. They are rarely invoked, partly because the Lords generally do their best not to go near the limits. They know that their legitimacy would be undermined if they constantly interfered in Commons business. But it does happen, and when it does, the primacy of the Commons is reasserted, by convention but also with an unmistakable smell of raw political power - what Carl Schmitt called the "power to assert the state of exception". It's ugly when it happens, and it looks ugly, especially when the Lords do what they do best (as they're doing now) which is to debate things rationally, without caring too much about entrenched positions.
That a member of the House of Lords is doing this now is extremely astute. The government's position is very weak, given that they're trying to convince the British population to vote Yes to remain in Europe: playing hardball with the Lords over an obscure (to all but vapers) but universally-hated-by-people-who-know EU regulation would be suicidal.
But the government's position is also extremely flexible, because they don't seem to really care much about the TPD. In the debate I linked to above, it seems that at the European Council, the UK health representative signed up to the TPD without even realising whether it affected ecigs. Thanks to people like Clive Bates and Peter Hajek, we have a scientific consensus (barring the crazies like McKee, and the usual outside-world "experts" Chapman and Glantz) that the TPD is insane. Public Health England, NHS stop-smoking services and the Royal College of Physicians have all given the thumbs-up to ecigs as a way to reduce smoking.
So this is in fact an easy win. Cameron's government don't need to lose any face over it, because they never attached any importance to it in the first place (Cameron even acknowledged the contribution of ecigs to smoking-cessation back in December). Cameron could even get bonus points for it as "staying in Europe but standing up to it". There was no debate over the adoption of the TPD: it was adopted through a Statutory Instrument, which is a lightweight, debate-free legislative measure. The government have not invested any political capital or credibility in the TPD.
All it takes, against a Statutory Instrument passed by people who really couldn't care less, is someone to stand up to it. That's exactly what Lord Callanan (who sits on the Conservative bench) is doing. He should find it easy job. So please support him, if you want to see the TPD disappear. This is our chance.
Please do also write to Lord Callanan, even if you're not a UK citizen, and explain why this is important to you. Whatever my thoughts about the constitutional arrangements of the UK, I've noticed that the Upper House (as I'd prefer the House of Lords to be called) debates things in a far more rational, slow way than the Commons, where debate gets a bit too yo'mama for anything interesting to happen. You can find news on this here: Lord's Last Ditch Attempt to Save Vaping - Ashtray Blog - way down the page is a "Politics" section where you can find a link to the debate last week, which illustrates the slow, thoughtful style of the Lords very well.
We need everyone to add their voice to this, wherever they're from, writing honestly about their concerns as a citizen of whatever country. I've been off the case myself in the last year or so, but as an example, I'm disgusted by how my American friends are being led down a path of quasi-prohibition by some of the worst, most dishonest people in America. I'd love to visit and enjoy the USA again and not find a vape-free desert of "virtuous" people!
The anti-ecig zealots love to claim victories in one country and then use that to claim legitimacy. So, though I'm sorry I haven't paid so much attention to what's happening in the USA recently, we could really use support from people from anywhere. Within Europe, I think we in the UK may be a wedge.
For example, Hungary has completely capitulated to the TPD, partly because the government has a vested political interest in the "Nemzeti Dohányboltok" - tobacco shops which were set up a few years ago as the only legal cigarette sellers, and whose licences were almost universally granted to supporters of (hmmm.. contributors to?) the ruling political party. Long-established shops went bust, and some remote villages ended up with no shop because of this. That was already a scandal when it happened, but the Hungarian implementation of the TPD includes - surprise, surprise, only these shops will be able to sell e-cig products.
We in the UK are of course corrupt as well, but in a different way. (We are often "innocently" corrupt by simply looking the other way at the critical time. This is especially useful when someone turns up with a lot of money to invest...
)But this is an opportunity to put a hole in the TPD below the waterline. We all know that there are people in every European country who hate this idiotic, antidemocratic, irrational law. I've picked up EFVI leaflets in Hungarian and Slovenian when buying e-juice (and been able to read them very slowly over two hours, in the case of the Hungarian one, and not at all, in the case of the Slovenian one).
There's no need to invoke any idiotic conceptions of British superiority at this point, especially at this point in political time when any talk about Europe in Britain is horribly polarised. All that matters is that if just one government resists the TPD, it might make some difference. And since that government is my government, I can make a difference (which I'm not capable of doing in Hungarian or Slovenian).
I have to add that this is a development worth pursuing and supporting. From previous experience as an activist trying to influence UK politics, I can say that: I know nothing about Lord Callanan. But the comments I get from online are "extremely experienced politician".
According to my own inexperienced judgment, this is proved accurate. This is a for-real political manoeuvre, not just a protest. The timing is superb. On June 23rd, everyone in the UK votes in a referendum about remaining part of the EU or leaving. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has thrown himself completely into the "Remain" camp. The ruling Conservative Party is badly split on the EU-or-not issue. It's a sensitive time for the ruling party, which has a majority of only 12 in the (elected) Commons.
There are many established conventions in UK politics about the limits of the (appointed, but also some hereditary) Lords' power to disturb decisions made by the (elected) Commons. They are rarely invoked, partly because the Lords generally do their best not to go near the limits. They know that their legitimacy would be undermined if they constantly interfered in Commons business. But it does happen, and when it does, the primacy of the Commons is reasserted, by convention but also with an unmistakable smell of raw political power - what Carl Schmitt called the "power to assert the state of exception". It's ugly when it happens, and it looks ugly, especially when the Lords do what they do best (as they're doing now) which is to debate things rationally, without caring too much about entrenched positions.
That a member of the House of Lords is doing this now is extremely astute. The government's position is very weak, given that they're trying to convince the British population to vote Yes to remain in Europe: playing hardball with the Lords over an obscure (to all but vapers) but universally-hated-by-people-who-know EU regulation would be suicidal.
But the government's position is also extremely flexible, because they don't seem to really care much about the TPD. In the debate I linked to above, it seems that at the European Council, the UK health representative signed up to the TPD without even realising whether it affected ecigs. Thanks to people like Clive Bates and Peter Hajek, we have a scientific consensus (barring the crazies like McKee, and the usual outside-world "experts" Chapman and Glantz) that the TPD is insane. Public Health England, NHS stop-smoking services and the Royal College of Physicians have all given the thumbs-up to ecigs as a way to reduce smoking.
So this is in fact an easy win. Cameron's government don't need to lose any face over it, because they never attached any importance to it in the first place (Cameron even acknowledged the contribution of ecigs to smoking-cessation back in December). Cameron could even get bonus points for it as "staying in Europe but standing up to it". There was no debate over the adoption of the TPD: it was adopted through a Statutory Instrument, which is a lightweight, debate-free legislative measure. The government have not invested any political capital or credibility in the TPD.
All it takes, against a Statutory Instrument passed by people who really couldn't care less, is someone to stand up to it. That's exactly what Lord Callanan (who sits on the Conservative bench) is doing. He should find it easy job. So please support him, if you want to see the TPD disappear. This is our chance.
I've just written to Lord Callahan, telling my story, my thoughts on the regulations, and thanking him for his efforts.
Signed, as an Australian i am happy to speak up whenever possible against the idiocy of politicians the world over.
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