Foyle SDLP MP Mark Durkan welcomes move to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.
Today’s announcement by the Public Health Minister Jane Ellison that the British Government is to move forward with plans to ban branding on cigarette packs, has been welcomed by Foyle SDLP MP Mark Durkan.
Mr Durkan, who has supported a number of health charities (including the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK) and their campaigns calling on the government to follow the lead of Australia in bringing forward legislation on standardising the packaging of tobacco products, said cigarette packaging was one of the last forms of marketing that tobacco companies could still use to attract new customers.
He added: “Indeed, since 1 December last year, Australia has led the way in helping to stop people from becoming addicted to smoking – with the introduction of dark olive brown packets mostly covered in health warnings.
“If we care about the health of people in Derry and throughout the North then we must introduce plain, standardised packs which will help to stop the next generation of smokers being recruited.”
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