Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, has called on the Coalition to stop prevaricating and finally commit to introducing plain – or ‘standardised’ – packaging for cigarettes, in the light of shocking new figures on children taking up the habit.

At a joint meeting this week of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Smoking and Health and on Heart Disease, also attended by North East campaign group Fresh, Catherine heard about the successful introduction of plain tobacco packaging in Australia.

Exactly one year ago, the Government launched a public consultation on introducing plain packaging in this country. Despite the consultation closing on 10^th August 2012, Ministers are still to issue a response.  And since the consultation was launched, figures calculated by Cancer Research UK suggest that more than 200,000 children have taken up smoking across the country – or around 1,076 in Newcastle, which is equivalent to almost 21 every week.

As well as attending the meeting in Parliament, Catherine also used Health Questions in the Commons this week to express her concerns on the issue – telling Ministers:

“This decision is taking too long, and those who care about the impact of smoking on children are at a loss to understand why. Given the U-turn on minimum alcohol pricing, the delaying of the sexual health strategy and, now, the stalling on standardised packaging. I must ask whether the Government have simply given up on public health.”  

Speaking later, Catherine said:

“It is absolutely appalling that so many children in Newcastle and across the country are being tempted in to taking up smoking every day.  Cigarette packs are deliberately designed to make smoking look attractive, but the reality is a lifetime of addition, illness and premature death.

“The last Government made great strides on this issue, with the ending of most forms of tobacco advertising back in 2003, a ban on sports sponsorship In 2005 and of course the ban on smoking in public places in 2007.

“There is no reason for the Government to continue prevaricating on plain packaging, and they should finally commit to implementing this life-saving measure without delay.”