Leading figures in the war on illicit tobacco met in central London to debate the scale of the problem, and also suggest ways in which it could be countered in light of ever-changing regulations forced on the retail and tobacco industries - and the motivations of the relatively new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham.
The event, titled The £1.7bn Hole: Crime, Illicit Trade and the Future of the High Street, was hosted by JTI and The Times, with representatives from government, industry and retail all present.
A discussion panel hosted by ex-MP Ed Vaizey featured Lyndsey Cambridge-Wilson, head of external affairs at Food & Drink Wholesale UK, Conservative MP for Windsor, Jack Rankin, Nicky Small from JTI, and Oliver Wright, policy editor at The Times.
There was also a discussion on crime with Kathryn Westmore, director of financial crime and interim director of fraud at banking company UK Finance.
Panel debate
Westmore went on to add she was angered by the belief from some members of the public that illicit tobacco was somehow a victimless crime: “Criminals are all about profit, and the more profitable illicit tobacco is to supply, the more criminals are going to want to do it, frankly.
“But there’s a really important point about consumer awareness. All they want to do is save a few quid. But there are huge consequences.
“The groups involved with selling illegal tobacco are often involved in a whole range of crimes, such as slavery, human trafficking, trading drugs or firearms and fraud. So, actually, by purchasing that cheap pack of cigarettes, they’re contributing significant harm to our country.”
Conservative figure
Many of those present also said they felt the £1.7bn number given in the name of the study was in fact very conservative. “I’ve seen numbers as high as 4.5bn,” Rankin offered, explaining that he’d been on store raids in his constituency with police forces: “I couldn’t see it being a big problem in my well-to-do area, but after just half a day, I found it was epic.
“In the mini marts, the vape shops, the Turkish barbers, you could ask for mega puff vapes and they’d have them. In Facebook groups you can even ask for illicit cigarettes and then meet up in a park some 20 minutes later and buy them.”
Joined-up thinking
While it was perhaps unreasonable to expect a meeting like this to come up with any one solution to a problem which needs better joined up thinking from the Government, the police, Trading Standards and more - as well as heavier fines and stricter enforcement - many present felt the issue had at least moved further up the list of priorities for the Government over the last year.
“This is the impact of bringing people through that journey of understanding [the issue], being educated about it, and then being accountable for it as well. So we’re all working together to play our part to shut this down,” JTI’s Small offered by way of summary.
Further discussions are due to take place later this year in Coventry, and hopefully also above the border in Scotland.
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