Nearly half of Labour MPs in the UK say the proposed cigarettes and vapes ban is their lowest priority, a new survey has revealed.
Polling firm Survation asked 102 sitting Labour MPs to anonymously rank which upcoming legislation announced in the King’s speech is their priority over the coming months.
The controversial Tobacco and Vapes Bill came in at the bottom of the table, with 48 per cent of those surveyed ranking it LAST - in tenth place. Just four Labour MPs ranked the bill in their top three priorities.
How Labour MPs’ priorities rank
This is despite Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement earlier this month that he plans to ban smoking in pub gardens and other public spaces.
The ban would extend to small parks, as well as areas outside of nightclubs, hospitals and sports venues.
The proposals would be added to the government’s controversial Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which was first introduced by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government to gradually phase out smoking.
The new poll comes as Sir Keir faces a rebellion from his own MPs over his proposed amendments to the bill. Last week, Mary Glindon, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, tabled an early day motion in Parliament opposing the plan to ban outdoor smoking.
Her motion note reads “..the Government is considering the merits of a ban on outdoor smoking in pub gardens and other places; believes that this will unduly restrict individual liberty where second-hand smoking dangers are negligible, drive some and maybe many pubs out of business and undermine the night-time economy; and urges the Government not to proceed with this option and, if it does, to allow a free vote on the proposal.”
There have been concerns that once smoking was banned outdoors, vaping would be next in line.
What are Labour’s priorities?
Meanwhile, the highest priority for Labour MPs, according to the poll, is Ed Miliband’s Great British Energy Bill. Of those MPs who responded, 25 per cent said it was their highest priority, 25 per cent their second highest ranking priority and 15 per cent their third.
In second was the Employment Rights Bill, with 57 per cent placing it in their top three legislative priorities. Third is the Crime and Policing Bill, which will bring in new recruitment for neighbourhood and community support officers.
The poll was published just a week before Labour MPs head up to Liverpool for their annual conference.
