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Corner Shopkeepers’ Fury As Lords Vote For Tobacco Display Ban

Corner shopkeepers across the UK have expressed their anger that the House of Lords has voted today (6th May) to ban tobacco displays in shops.

The Tobacco Retailers Alliance, which represents 26,000 shopkeepers who sell tobacco, has been campaigning against the ban and has seen its membership rise by 10,000 since the Government announced plans to threaten tobacco displays.

Ken Patel, a retailer from Leicester and National Spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, said:

“This is a hugely disappointing decision. Peers have been misled by the tobacco control lobby as there is simply no international evidence that a ban on tobacco displays will have achieved the government’s stated objective of reducing youth smoking.

“There is however international evidence that a ban on tobacco displays has a devastating effect on corner shops. Figures recently released by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA) showed that since a tobacco display ban was implemented in the province of Ontario, 23 convenience stores have closed every week. In Quebec, following a display ban there, 12 stores closed every week.

Debbie Corris, a retailer in Whitstable, Kent commented:

“It is ridiculous to state that young people take up smoking because tobacco is on display in the shops. They take up smoking because they want to look older, or because of peer pressure or because their friends or parents smoke. Underage people aren’t suddenly going to stop wanting to smoke and look older than their years just because tobacco’s not on display in their shops.

“They won’t be getting their supplies from shops anyway. They’ll be getting older people they know to buy them on their behalf or getting them from smugglers who don’t question the age of those to whom they sell. The government needs to work on tackling these issues rather than threatening the livelihoods of retailers.”

Recent statistics from the pro-health lobby ASH stated that shop refits would cost on average £120. On investigation, it transpired that these costs were for temporary alterations that would last up to six months and would not include installation costs. The Association of Convenience Stores estimated that permanent shop refit costs including installation could be up to £5000 per store.

Solly Khonat, a retailer from Blackburn, commented:

“This will be the nail in the coffin for many independent retailers. I hope that when the debate moves to the Commons that MPs, who know an election can’t be far off, realise that banning tobacco displays is going to cost them votes.”

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For more information, please contact Jonathan Hart on info@tobaccoretailersalliance.org.uk or  hart.work@yahoo.com;  0800 008 282 or 0777 55 66 908

Notes to editors

The Tobacco Retailers Alliance a coalition of 26,000 independent retailers who all sell tobacco products. For 26 years we have represented the rights of legitimate retailers to sell tobacco products in a legal and responsible way. The Tobacco Retailers Alliance offers free membership to any independent retailer who sells tobacco. The Tobacco Retailers Alliance is funded by the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA.)

The Tobacco Retailers Alliance recently produced a short film featuring corner shopkeepers voicing their concerns about the display ban. To see the film, please use the contact details above.

The Conservative Party and more than 100 MPs, including 50 Labour backbenchers, have pledged their support for retailers on the threat to displays, recognising that such a move would place an unnecessary burden on small businesses while doing nothing to reduce youth smoking rates.

Even pressure group ASH now admit that the decline in youth smoking in Canada merely ‘coincided’ with a ban on displays of tobacco. In a statement about the evidence from Canada, ASH said: “ASH makes claims of causation with great care and for a number of technical reasons, including the fact that display bans were part of a range of interventions, it is not possible to definitely claim causation at this stage.”

Katherine Graham, Campaign Manager

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