Mary Kelly Foy MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Jun 2025 · Disabled People in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 26 Feb 2025 · Public Services · Hansard source

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  3. What recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on improving public services.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Sixteenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I wonder whether the Minister will allow me to indulge in a history lesson of my own, as that seems to have been the order of the day for most of the Committee’s sitting days. While I am overjoyed that the Bill is one step closer to becoming law, I must make the Committee aware of a previous smoking ban introduced in the 16th century by Pope Urban VII. During his short period as pope—it lasted 13 days—he went like the clappers to bring in a smoking ban, before he snuffed it. That ban was taken further by Pope Urban VIII, who banned snuff and threatened to excommunicate anyone smoking it, chewing it or sniffing it in or anywhere near a church. I only wish that the hon. Member for Windsor was in his place to realise that the Bill is positively liberal compared to the papal bulls of those popes.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fifteenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  The new clause asks for a consultation, so a lot of issues would need to be worked through with the Chancellor. However, the tobacco companies make exorbitant profits from a product that kills the folk to they sell it to, so I am sure that the shadow Minister would agree that that means we should use some of their profits to pay for the damage being done.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Thirteenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  indicated dissent.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Tenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  In my speech, I referenced evidence from Canada—the Health Canada survey. If the hon. Gentleman would like some more information on that, he could get in touch with ASH, which has the results. There was evidence to suggest that having health warnings had an impact, particularly on young people.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Tenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I am not pressing the new clause to a vote, although I suggested that the Minister or Department could look into the issue once the Bill has received Royal Assent. But just for information, Canada is the first country in the world to require mandatory health warnings on cigarettes. That legislation came into force in 2023. To address the hon. Gentleman’s point, there was a minimum lead-in time for king-size cigarettes of nine months for manufacturers and 12 months for retailers, and longer lead-in times for other products. Australia followed suit by passing legislation in December 2023; its regulations will come into force by July this year.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Tenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I will not press these provisions to a vote but they are worth raising now, and perhaps for consideration at a later stage of the Bill, further down the line. The amendment and new clause would require tobacco manufacturers and importers to put health warnings on individual cigarettes and cigarette papers. The Government are consulting on pack inserts which, of course, is welcome. However, those warnings do not catch those who buy individual cigarettes or those who are offered one out of someone else’s pack. Warnings on individual cigarettes—dissuasive cigarettes—were recommended by the all-party parliamentary group on smoking and health in 2021, and by the Khan review in 2022. These warnings already exist in Canada, introduced in August 2023, and will be implemented in Australia from July this year. Research commissioned by Health Canada into the appeal and attractiveness of cigarettes showed that cigarettes with health warnings were seen as less appealing than those without. That is true the other way too; cigarettes without health warnings were perceived as less harmful. We all know about the harms of smoking, and we have heard it again and again in these sessions, but the more that we can convey that message to consumers, and particularly young people, the better. Overall, participants in the research felt that labelling individual cigarettes made packages complete and impactful. That was particularly true among youths who do not smoke, smoked occasionally or wished to quit. We know how addictive cigarettes are. It is often said in these debates that the only choice is the first cigarette. For many, even that may not be true; children are four times more likely to take up smoking if their parents smoke. If we truly want to stop the start, we need to make sure that people know how harmful these products are, even if they are offered just one of them. It is great that the Department is currently consulting on pack inserts, but that does not quite capture those who may purchase or are offered single cigarettes.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Tenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  No, I do not. As I said, the Department is consulting on pack inserts, but that may not capture the people who have or are offered one cigarette. We all know that it takes only one cigarette to become addicted. Does the Minister have a timeframe that the Department is working to for the introduction of pack inserts? Will the Department monitor the effectiveness of that and continue to look at evidence from other countries, such as Canada, where dissuasive cigarettes do have an impact, and potentially use the powers in the Bill to introduce dissuasive individual cigarettes at a later stage?

• 21 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Tenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to move amendment 5, in clause 91, page 51, line 26, at the end insert— “and markings containing health warnings”. This amendment enables regulations to be made requiring health warnings to be marked on individual cigarettes and cigarette papers.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Tenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 91 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 92 Contents and flavour Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  The new clause will make the policy consistent across the nations and simplify the process. If I can carry on, I will expand on those points. The new clause will extend the policy further than Scotland and simplify the process for retailers, customers and enforcement agencies. There has already been a lot of discussion about the implementation of a smoke-free generation, and about trying to make it simple and easy to understand. We heard in oral evidence concerns about the difficulty, when the policy has been in place for some decades, in telling the difference between two individuals in their forties who fall on either side of the policy. While that is likely to be a marginal issue in practice, the new clause will further help to resolve it. Mandatory age verification currently exists in Scotland and is supported by retailers here. In response to the Minister’s point about it possibly being a burden on businesses, a survey of independent UK tobacco retailers by Action on Smoking and Health in 2024 found that more than seven out of 10 retailers—71%—in England and Wales supported this.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  As I pointed out, surveys of retailers in Scotland show that 83% of them do not think it is a burden. As things are, there are fewer tobacco sales year on year, and as we progress, the sale of tobacco will phase out anyway; it will not be a thing of the future for businesses. In the meantime, they have pointed out that this measure aids them.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I wish to speak to new clause 3, which is in my name. I do not intend to press it to a vote, and I will be very brief because there has been a lot of discussion—about three and a half hours—on this part of the Bill already, and I hope it will answer some of those points. I am introducing it because I think it would enhance the Bill’s consistency with the Government’s four-nations approach. New clause 3 would apply to all the nations of the United Kingdom mandatory age verification for purchasing tobacco, vapes and non-medicinal nicotine products, in line with the provisions set out for Scotland in the Bill. Scotland has had mandatory age verification for anyone who looks under 20 as a legal requirement for purchasing tobacco and vapes since 2017. In lay terms, there is a legal underpinning for Challenge 25, which is voluntary in the rest of the UK. The Bill amends the Scottish system so that from 2033, it will be a legal requirement to verify the age of anyone trying to purchase tobacco who looks like they were born on or after 1 January 2009. My new clause would simply extend that beyond Scotland to ensure consistency for retailers, customers and enforcement agencies.

• 9 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I agree. We heard concerns on Tuesday in evidence about the aggression towards retailers, and the impact that the Bill might have on that. I would argue that providing consistency about identification is a potential mitigation of those risks. It takes away the guesswork.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q Do you have any view on how restricting vapes in public places, which is obviously a very welcome power, should be implemented so that it does not deter smokers from switching to vapes and they do not relapse back into smoking cigarettes? Professor Sir Chris Whitty: I will suggest that Sir Frank takes this question, because it is his very last answer to a parliamentary question; he is about to stop as chief medical officer, so he is going out on a high. Sir Francis Atherton: What the Bill does is to simplify matters, making it as simple as possible: a smoke-free place is a vape-free place as well. That does not take away people’s ability to go into a place where smoking and vaping are allowed, but it helps to disentangle the confusion that currently exists about where people can legitimately use those products. It is a simplification that can only help to lead, in the long term, to that reduction that we need. In Wales, 13% of people continue to smoke. Our ambition is to get to 5% by 2030; we will struggle to get there, but this Bill will help us to get there.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  I cannot hear everything because of that noise, but I am co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on smoking and health.

• 10 Dec 2024 · Lobular Breast Cancer · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this very important issue. I was diagnosed with, treated for and cured of breast cancer this year, in a very timely way. I was very grateful to be told that it was one of the best cancers to have, because there is so much research into it and treatment for it. It is unimaginable that someone could be treated for a different type of breast cancer for which the research and treatment are not available. I am sure my hon. Friend will agree that this situation needs to be addressed immediately, because we cannot have these inequalities. Lobular cancer should be on a par with other breast cancers in terms of treatment.

• 17 Oct 2024 · Access to Period Products · Hansard source

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  9. Whether the Commission is taking steps to increase access to period products on the parliamentary estate.

• 17 Oct 2024 · Access to Period Products · Hansard source

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  May I say how glad I am to be asking this question today, so that my hon. Friend can also earn his pay? Free period products in the workplace are essential items, but in far too many places of work they are seen as optional. I know there are a few places around the parliamentary estate where free period products can be accessed, but more places are required and we cannot leave out our constituency offices. Will he ensure that more period products are made available both here and in constituency offices around the country?

• 15 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I stand here today as someone who was diagnosed, treated and cured of breast cancer this year by the amazing staff in the north-east, but not enough women are taking up their breast screening appointments. Will the Minister do more to raise awareness of, and access to, breast screening appointments, and may I urge all women to check themselves regularly?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Universities: Freedom of Speech · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that the real threat to academic freedom are cuts to academic subjects and job insecurity, two issues that the Conservative party ignored time and again when in government?