SINCE being elected as MP for Leigh in 2019 I have always worked hard to make sure that the voices of my constituents are heard, both in Westminster, but also here at home in Leigh.

Over the last 12 months a number of parents have spoken to me about their concerns about illegal vaping products that seem to be targeted largely at children.

Of course, I support the right of my constituents to purchase legal and safe tobacco and vaping products, especially where those products help smokers move away from traditional tobacco product usage.

I recently joined a team of investigators who support the efforts by Trading Standards when it comes to tackling the trading of illegal vapes and illicit cigarettes. Operating throughout the UK, they visited Leigh at the end of August, and it was eye-opening.

This visit highlighted several issues with illegal tobacco and vape products. Firstly, I was shocked to see a very high percentage of shops the team visited for a test purchase resulted in illicit products, whether tobacco or vapes. Secondly, I am concerned about the knock-on impact. It is not just that the Treasury loses out on tax receipts which help pay for the NHS, prisons, roads and infrastructure, defence and other important issues of government, but that this activity also helps fund criminal gangs.

There is also the issue of potential health impacts of using illegal and substandard products. I was shocked to learn that in the past, tests done on counterfeit, smuggled and unregulated products have shown the presence of banned chemicals, dangerous to human health, and in some cases such contaminants as human sewage and rat faeces have been found given the unsanitary factories these unlicensed and often counterfeit products are produced in. 

Furthermore, anything that undermines the confidence of smokers to switch to a reduced risk product, be that vapes, nicotine patches, heated tobacco products, or gum, will have a significant, negative long-term impact.

Illegal vaping products containing dangerous chemicals, some manufactured primarily to appeal to young people, represent a growing health risk to our youth. Counterfeit, often smuggled tobacco products, undermine legitimate retailers, present a serious health risk to the users and help fund criminal gangs engaged in other nefarious activities to everybody’s detriment.

We need stronger regulation and enforcement measures against these fake and dangerous products, both to protect public health and support legitimate manufacturers and retailers who only sell legal products and I will be raising this with ministerial colleagues on my return to Parliament