Vape firms honoured MP who leads group

Seventeen MPs and three peers have joined the Responsible Vaping AllParty Parliamentary Group (APPG), 13 of whom are Conservative.

The vice-chair, Mary Glindon (pictured, centre), was nominated for “most supportive parliamentarian” by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) last year.

Ms Glindon sponsored an event in Parliament on behalf of Japan Tobacco International, a tobacco and vaping firm, last May. She said the event was held to highlight a report it had commissioned containing “shocking statistics on the availability of illegal and non-compliant vapes”.

MPs have also sponsored 11 events in Parliament on behalf of vaping companies over the past six years, according to parliamentary records.

Ms Glindon said: “I proudly plead guilty to being vocal in my support of vaping as a smoking cessation tool.

“I’m in good company on this. The NHS also says that nicotine vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking.”

She said she derived “no personal benefit from any funding for APPGs and don’t seek any benefit apart from helping people to quit smoking”, adding: “I do also agree that any report highlighting the health risks of vaping should be given due concern.”

The new APPG includes Adam Afriyie, Tory MP for Windsor, who has some of the clearest ties to the industry in Westminster.

Mr Afriyie (pictured, left) delivered the keynote speech at the same UKVIA conference last year, where he won the “most supportive parliamentarian” award.

He has accepted two all-expensespaid trips to industry events in the US and South Korea from the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum worth £18,720 since 2022, analysis shows.

He also hosted an event in Parliament in March 2023 on behalf of the UKVIA.

Mr Afriyie is the chair of the advisory board of Elite Growth, a firm that sells disposable vapes, in an unpaid role he initially failed to declare in his financial interests.

He was accused of breaching lobbying rules last year after i revealed that he failed to declare his wife’s shares in Elite Growth. The MP declined to respond to the claims, with a spokeswoman saying he “does not comment on his family”.

A spokeswoman for Mr Afriyie said he never received any direct payment from the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum and the sum declared represents the costs of attending the events.

Mr Afriyie said: “As vice chair of the former APPG on vaping I was always pleased to accept speaking invitations and to share our success story.

“My crusade is to ensure that legislation is evidence-based and led by the science. Vaping saves lives.”