A Coventry retailer has accused the Labour government of protecting big business while ‘threatening the existence’ of convenience stores over its upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Writing in the Telegraph, Paul Cheema, owner of Malcolm’s in Coventry, said while he applauded the intent of keeping young people away from tobacco and nicotine products, the latest version of the Bill meant that local shops would pay the price.
“This bill isn’t just about taking laudable action on child-friendly flavours and packaging of vapes,” Cheema argued.
“This is about a government that bangs the growth and deregulation gong when there’s a PR job to be done with City fat cats and overseas investors. But the reality is, convenience stores up and down the country can’t take much more.”
Tobacco and Vapes Bill joins mounting challenges for convenience stores
Cheema added that spiralling crimes rates, together with National Insurance and business rates rises were all “threatening our very existence”.
Meanwhile the Bill, which is currently making its way through parliament, could mean vaping products are anonymised through plain packaging. It also seeks to ban the advertising and sponsorship of vapes, while retailers may also need a licence to sell products.
“Clearly, the sooner adult smokers move to smoke-free alternatives the better. So why make that transition harder? And why let local shops pay the price for poorly thought-through legislation?” Cheema said.
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