Jeremy Hunt cuts NI

[AndyRM]

The very first e-cigarettes, introduced in the mid naughties, were specifically not marketed as a way to give up smoking, but as a means of circumventing the smoking ban. I think things have changed now but IIRC they didn't want them to have to be regulated as nicotine replacement therapy. This was back when they didn't produce clouds of vapour and you could use them indoors in the pub without bothering anyone.

I remember the local snuff mill trying to seize the opportunity when the smoking ban came into effect, with the tagline 'smoke when you can, snuff when you can't.

Ah, my mistake.

I'm not au fait with the regulations around therapies, but most pharmacies, GPs and hospitals seem to recommend them as an alternative to smoking these days.

Vapes are meant to be banned indoors, but it's a lot easier to get away with it. Just stick the thing back in your pocket without the risk of setting yourself on fire.

 

[AuroraSaab]

I've noticed people trying to vape at gigs recently, which is really annoying. Not going to pubs and gigs and being surrounded by smokers really enhanced my enjoyment of those things. I think the vape fad will peter out eventually too. Used to see teenagers vaping but not so much now.

 

[AndyRM]

You reckon? There's around 6 million tobacco smokers in the UK, and 5 million vapers (a number which has risen steadily).

There may be an overlap as some will do both, but the only way I can see vaping declining is if the price goes up as drastically as tobacco.

 

[Beebo]

I've noticed people trying to vape at gigs recently, which is really annoying. Not going to pubs and gigs and being surrounded by smokers really enhanced my enjoyment of those things. I think the vape fad will peter out eventually too. Used to see teenagers vaping but not so much now.

It’s not going away near here.
It’s a real problem, and it is so clear aimed at children. Many who have never and will never smoke.
We need to ban the silly flavours and also disposable vapes.

 

[AndyRM]

It’s not going away near here.
It’s a real problem, and it is so clear aimed at children. Many who have never and will never smoke.
We need to ban the silly flavours and also disposable vapes.

There's a ban coming in on disposable vapes within the next six months which is a good thing. I see them chucked away all over the place where I live.

Totally agree about the silly flavours thing too. I tried the ones designed to taste like tobacco and they're awful to the point of being off-putting, though that may because I'm used to (and enjoy) the flavour of actual tobacco.

 

[AndyRM]

I got this in an e-mail from a vaping place I used to use (reminding me that I need to unsubscribe!):

"The Chancellor's budget dropped today, and everywhere you look there are alarming articles about the rising cost of smoking. As usual, we're here to cut through the noise and keep you in the loop.

Big news: For now, smokers aren't being used as the usual cash cows to try and plug the gap in the Government's poor budgeting and financial management.

What that means for you now

In plain terms, no hike in tobacco duty this time. But, heads up, some tobacco companies might tweak their prices as we roll into the new financial year.

What it means in the future

The Government did unveil their plans to target vapes and tobacco from October 2026, including:

• £2 tax per 100 cigarettes
• £2 tax per 50 grams of tobacco
• £1 tax on Vapes that contain nicotine-free liquids
• £2 tax on Vapes that contain Up to 10.9mg nicotine per ml

For once, we're shocked too - we didn't see that coming at all."

 

[BoldonLad]

Ah, my mistake.

I'm not au fait with the regulations around therapies, but most pharmacies, GPs and hospitals seem to recommend them as an alternative to smoking these days.

Vapes are meant to be banned indoors, but it's a lot easier to get away with it. Just stick the thing back in your pocket without the risk of setting yourself on fire.

People using Vapes on the Metro is becoming an increasing issue.

 

[AndyRM]

People using Vapes on the Metro is becoming an increasing issue.

Aye, it has been for a while. That said, the increased security presence on parts of the system does seem to be working. Used to be positively feral between Wallsend and the coast but it doesn't seem as bad since they stepped things up.

To be honest, I'm just looking forward to the new trains finally being put into service! Been far too long.

 

[albion]

I wonder if the 2% NI reduction calculates to 'retire at 70', or even more, for anyone under the age of 45.
Low tax regimes usually have little or no state pension.

 

[Beebo]

Whilst the increase in threshold for child benefit is welcome, it is clearly a move to off set the fact that the promised support for child care is clearly not coming on stream anytime soon.

 

[BoldonLad]

Aye, it has been for a while. That said, the increased security presence on parts of the system does seem to be working. Used to be positively feral between Wallsend and the coast but it doesn't seem as bad since they stepped things up.

To be honest, I'm just looking forward to the new trains finally being put into service! Been far too long.

I have ceased to believe they actually exist

 

[albion]

The train looks handy for budget trips further north.

However it does look a lot slower than the 'all main line' Morpeth train.

 

[albion]

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money...lor-avoids-tough-choices-warns-IFS-chief.html

Too late to delete my above mis-post. IFS agrees that the budget was nonsense. But we have come to expect that from the nonsense party.

 

[Deleted member 121]

It's an admission, probably the only one until the election night when the majority of Tory MP's parrot the line "its going to be a difficult night", that we are going to get that the Tories believe and know they have lost the election, irrespective of what they have rehearsed to say up until the Election.

The job for c'hunt now is to make it as difficult for Labour as possible and cause as much hardship and mess, so sorting it will be an enormous task with difficult choices, enough for the Tories to criticise until 2029 ish, the time of the next election.

I will say i don't think public services will ever return to the levels of pre-2009, when i could get a bus every half hour from 5:50am until 23:50 6 days a week with Sunday hours being every hour. Right now it is every hour that start later in the morning and finish around 18:30 5 days a week and don't run at all on a Sunday or B/Hol and they are completely unreliable. The County Council is responsible for this, but they have seen their funding cut and so this has been reciprocated to the public services. Nothing works properly and everything has become financially unsustainable and beyond breaking point.

 

[wafter]

As usual it's a crass, cynical and obvious attempt to buy off voters pre-election; at a time when their destruction of publicly-funded infrastructure already has many services on their knees.

I expect this will be insufficent to prevent a labour government, however don't expect much to change as a result as I think we're beyond the point of no return and they seem bloody useless.