Experts call for plain packaging on vapes and tobacco to protect children
Hundreds of experts have signed a letter coordinated by Action on Smoking and Health urging the government to close loopholes and impose plain packaging on vapes and tobacco.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Hundreds of health and education experts have signed a letter to the government calling for tougher rules on the packaging and display of vapes and tobacco products. The letter was coordinated by the charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). The signatories want plain packaging for vapes and tobacco, similar to the restrictions introduced for cigarettes, and curbs on descriptions and designs they say make the products appeal to children.
The experts point to bright colours, cartoon imagery and fruit flavours. They argue these features exploit loopholes in current regulations. They also want tighter rules on how the products are displayed in shops. Cigarettes must be kept behind counters, but vape shops and smaller convenience stores often have colourful displays in windows and at payment points, where children may see them. The letter calls for no grey areas or loopholes that manufacturers can use to keep products attractive.
The government announced measures in July and a consultation is under way. The experts behind the letter believe those proposals may not go far enough. They want ministers to prioritise the issue and clamp down further. The push comes as vapes remain intended as a smoking cessation tool for adults, not a product for non-smokers or children.
There is a balancing act. Some smokers say vapes help them quit, and health experts do not want to deter them from using vapes as an alternative to cigarettes. But research into long-term effects is ongoing. Vapes contain nicotine and toxins. Cancer charities have warned they could be harmful to young people, whose bodies are still developing.
A health charity said around 1 million 11- to 17-year-olds in Great Britain tried a vape last year. The experts say the products were never meant to appeal to young people, yet children often see them in shops and communities. They want rules to reduce that appeal so children are not tempted. The government has not said how quickly it will act, and the consultation will show what priority the issue receives.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A letter coordinated by Action on Smoking and Health, signed by hundreds of experts, called for plain packaging for vapes and tobacco similar to cigarette packaging. | |
| The government announced measures in July and a consultation is ongoing. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News treated the story as a live studio interview with a correspondent, focusing on the experts' letter to government and the gap between cigarette rules and vape displays. It framed the demand for plain packaging and curbs on child-friendly flavours as a response to loopholes, while repeatedly noting the need not to put adult smokers off vapes. The segment linked the policy push to an ongoing government consultation and uncertainty over how high a priority ministers will give it.
- “hundreds of experts who've signed this letter to the government coordinated by the charity Action on Smoking and Health”
- “they want this plain packaging. A bit similar to what we saw with cigarettes”
- “around 1 million 11- to 17-year-olds in Great Britain tried a vape”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.