What you need to know about new vaping laws

Welcome to Monday’s Early Edition from i.

The prime minister is expected to use a visit at a school today to announce his plans to ban disposable vapes and stop future generations from smoking cigarettes. Rishi Sunak’s latest plans are primarily aimed at reducing youth vaping and smoking, as figures show the number of children vaping in the last three years has tripled. “The long-term impacts of vaping are unknown and the nicotine within them can be highly addictive, so while vaping can be a useful tool to help smokers quit, marketing vapes to children is not acceptable,” the PM says. His announcement comes after a public consultation which found that 70% of the 25,000 people surveyed – including parents, teachers and healthcare professionals – were in favour of a disposable vape ban. Doctors, healthcare groups, councils and public waste campaigners have also been pushing for a ban. Last year the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health warned “youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children”. So what is the PM planning, and will it be enough? We’ll take a look after the headlines.

 Today’s news, and why it matters

 A Labour MP has had the Labour whip suspended after appearing to suggest the war in Gaza is genocide in a post about Holocaust Memorial Day. Kate Osamor has issued an apology for “any offence caused” by the message she sent on the eve of Saturday’s national commemoration day.

Furious Conservatives have made fresh calls for Lord Frost, the Tory peer who has become the face of a Westminster plot to oust Rishi Sunak, to be blocked from standing as an MP at the next election. It comes as Kemi Badenoch attacked the plotters, accusing them of “stirring” by claiming she could be a replacement for Mr Sunak, adding that prime ministers should not be seen as “disposable”.

Rishi Sunak is not normal enough to pull off Major-style victory, says Neil Kinnock. The ex-Labour leader recalls 1992 battle with John Major and says current PM could never carry off his opponent’s famous ‘megaphone moment’, reports Arj Singh.

Labour’s plans to charge VAT on private school fees could mean deprived children losing out on places in selective state grammar schools, leading figures in the sector have warned. Headteachers at leading grammar schools across the country told i they feared the policy would spark a surge in competition for “already full-up” schools, which would benefit wealthier families living closer to classrooms and able to afford tutoring.

Inside the British Army drill for war with Russia – on the streets of Rutland. Following a drill in Rutland, troops are set to be among 40,000 armed service personnel taking part in Nato’s largest exercise since the Cold War amid mounting tensions with Russia, reports Joe Duggan.

Doctors are taking to YouTube in a crusade against social media health hokum. Medics are going online to defeat ‘trauma porn’ and combat the deluge of health misinformation, reports Paul Gallagher.

Three questions on new vaping laws:

What will be banned? Under the plans disposable vapes would be completely banned. Restrictions on vape flavours and displays will also come into foce – meaning manufacturers produce plainer packaging while shops would have to move them out of children’s sight. New anti-tobacco laws will also be introduced to prevent anyone born after 2009 from ever being able to purchase cigarettes. Fines of £100 will also be brought in for shops in England and Wales that sell vapes illegally to children, and trading standards officers will be given powers to act “on the spot”. Vaping alternatives – such as “snus” nicotine pouches – will be banned for children. Read more about the proposals here. The changes will mean Britain joins a growing list of other countries cracking down on single use vapes, including France, which hopes to bring in its ban by September this year. Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong have also banned disposable single-use vapes as well as the importation of all non-prescription vaping products. In Australia, vapes can now only be bought on prescription. However there are fears there that the measures could fuel the black market as well as put pressure on pharmacies and GPs to help supply them.

Does it go far enough? The vaping measures are much tougher than those originally laid out by Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party conference last year, when he announced plans to restrict the flavours and packing of disposable vapes, but not a full ban. Labour has already pledged to a total ban on disposable vapes if it enters No 10. Wes Streeting, the shadow Health Secretary, previously said a Labour Government would come down on the vaping industry “like a tonne of bricks”, adding: “I want to see them gone all together.” And earlier this month, Keir Starmer said a Labour government would ban child-friendly flavours and colours for vapes. He said: “Obviously you can’t sell vapes to under-16s, but don’t tell me bubblegum vaping is aimed at your 30-year-old man. It’s pretty obvious.” While health campaigners have welcomed the latest move, some still have questions over how the measures will be implemented and enforced, while others suggest they could still be stricter. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said banning disposable vapes will require “strict enforcement to be effective, as illegal vapes are already flooding the market”. She continued: “Throwing money at the problem is not enough, stopping illegal vapes at the border, inland and at point of sale requires a thought-through intelligence-led strategy.” Dr Mike McKean, vice president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the latest plans were a “meaningful step” but urged the government to quickly move ahead with the legislation, and added: “We look forward to seeing more details about these landmark plans, especially in terms of implementation, enforcement and monitoring.”

Will the legislation reopen divisions in the Tory party? According to the Times, a number of “anti-nanny state” Tories are said to be opposed to the bill. The paper says former PM Liz Truss urged Sunak to reverse the “profoundly unconservative policy”, adding: “While the state has a duty to protect children from harm, in a free society, adults must be able to make their own choices about their own lives. Banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or later will create an absurd situation where adults enjoy different rights based on their birthdate.” It also quotes another Conservative MP as saying: “I’m sure banning vapes goes down brilliantly amongst the Californian fasting community but our voters want the boats stopping and their wage packets growing.”

Around the world

 Joe Biden said the US “shall respond” after three American troops were killed and at least 34 more were injured in an overnight drone strike in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. The US president blamed the attack, which hit soldiers sleeping in tents at a place called Tower 22, on “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq”.

Why Donald Trump’s $83m libel payout could put off the voters he most needs. As Trump rages about the jury’s $83m decision, Democrats are highlighting how many women across America have less freedom than their mothers did, writes Andrew Buncombe.

The Rwandan President is growing increasingly angry and annoyed over criticism of his country from British media and MPs – but will not abandon the migration deal with the UK, i has been told. Speculation has been growing that a frustrated President Paul Kagame could be prepared to walk away from the migration deal, given the delays to the bill passing in the UK and the amount of criticism his country has received.

Environmental protesters wearing T-shirts that read “food counterattack”, have thrown soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa in Paris, calling for the right to “healthy and sustainable food”. The Louvre said the work was behind protective glass and was not damaged.

Japan’s space agency said its Moon lander has resumed operations, after it was left upside down during a slightly haphazard landing. The “moon sniper” spacecraft, had tumbled down a crater slope during its landing earlier this month, leaving it without power.

 Watch out for…

 Nadine Dorries, who has promised to hand back more than £16,000 she mistakenly received in severance pay for being a Cabinet minister. The former Tory MP Laura Kuenssberg she had only seen an email about the error on Friday and promised to pay it back “on Monday morning”. 

 Thoughts for the day

 The Tory warlord era has begun. In good times the writ of the Tory leader tends to run absolute, writes Henry Hill.

I’ve done Dry January for 29 years – pubs will have to change or die. Boomers are joining Gen Z in a turn away from alcohol, and the industry better catch up, says Stefano Hatfield.

A text telling women to have babies? Good luck with that. It will take a lot more than a text to stem the declining birth rate, writes Emma Barnett.

Culture Break

 Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal on All of Us Strangers: ‘Chemistry isn’t just sexual’. The actors and their director Andrew Haigh talk to James Mottram about queer representation, Irish geniality vs London aloofness and challenging audiences

The Big Read

 How 19th century laws to stop backstreet abortions are used to convict women. Leading NHS doctors and campaigners have described UK abortion laws as ‘totally out-of-step with modern Britain’, reports Connie Dimsdale.

Sport

 The rebirth of Macclesfield FC – a phoenix from the ashes. Macclesfield Town’s demise saw 146 years of history extinguished before a local businessman stepped in to save his boyhood club, writes Sam Cunningham.

Something to brighten your day

 I’m using Vinted to spy on other people’s lives. I have developed a bizarre fascination with the characters selling these clothes – and their home decor, reveals Nell Frizzell.