Tobacco Industry Hospitality for UK Politicians

Background

One of the tactics used by tobacco companies to weaken or prevent advances in tobacco control is by giving gifts to those who could influence the passage of tobacco control laws. Such gifts include dinners and tickets to popular events, which aim to build positive relationships with decision makers, and influence their understanding and voting behaviour on tobacco regulation.¹²³

Official records of the British House of Commons and the House of Lords, and government department transparency registers, show that British politicians have been recipients of tobacco industry gifts and hospitality from transnational tobacco companies:

• Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has been the most active tobacco company in offering UK politicians hospitality. UK politicians have accepted tickets to various events, including the Chelsea Flower Show, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, test match cricket at the Oval, the Rugby World Cup, and rock concerts.
• Imperial Brands (previously Imperial Tobacco) has been giving hospitality since the 1990s, and most recently has been providing politicians with tickets to the English tennis tournament Wimbledon.
• British American Tobacco (BAT) has also provided Wimbledon tickets and hospitality, and in 2011 took one peer and her spouse to the opera.

From 2002 to 2008, the British Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA) organised one-day shooting trips in Bedfordshire. The TMA also pays expenses of members of the Lords and Commons Cigar Club.³

Contravention of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

UK politicians accepting tobacco industry hospitality contravenes the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), to which the UK government has been a Party since December 2004.⁴ The implementation guidelines for Article 5.3 of the Treaty recommend that Parties “should interact with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable them to effectively regulate the tobacco industry and tobacco products”.⁵

Below are tables that list the MPs and Peers that have accepted tobacco industry hospitality. It should be noted that this list is by no means exhaustive. The incidences mentioned below, are the activities that have been publicly declared by the politicians.

Members of Parliament Who Declared Tobacco Industry Hospitality

The details in the following table have been acquired from the publicly available House of Commons Registers of Members’ Financial Interests.

In addition, in 2017 Richard Lyle, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, accepted hospitality from PMI. He visited PMI’s Research and Development facility in Switzerland, for which he was paid expenses of over £800.¹⁵ PMI paid for Lyle’s travel, accommodation, food and refreshments, and transfers, to a total of £815.84.¹⁶ See also links to the Scottish Grocers’ Federation.

Peers Who Declared Tobacco Industry Hospitality (2002-2014)

The details in the following table have been acquired from the publicly available House of Lords Registers of Lords’ Interests.

In addition to those listed in the table, members of the House of Lords and Commons Cigar Club have declared hospitality from the TMA (see below).

Lords and Commons cigar club

In 2014, the following members of the House of Lords declared that they had accepted hospitality (£140 each) from the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA) as members of the Lords and Commons cigar club:³²⁴

• Baroness Boothroyd, Labour
• Earl of Lindsay, Conservative
• Earl of Liverpool, Conservative
• Lord Brabazon of Tara, Conservative
• Lord Brougham and Vaux, Conservative
• Lord Davies of Coity, Labour
• Lord Dixon-Smith, Conservative
• Lord Eames, Conservative
• Lord Flight, Conservative
• Lord Geddes, Conservative
• Lord Glentoran, Conservative
• Lord Luke, Conservative
• Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan, Labour
• Lord Palmer, Crossbench
• Lord Pendry, Labour (who also accepted hospitality from Imperial Brands (see table above)
• Lord Skelmersdale, Conservative
• Lord Stoddart of Swindon, Independent Labour

As of 2023, members of the club declared that they had each accepted hospitality to the value of £300.²⁵

See also UK Politicians Hosting Tobacco Event at Parliament

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association
• EUK Consulting
• Lobbying Decision Makers
• Neil Hamilton
• Richard Lyle
• Members of UK Parliament Opposed to Plain Packaging

Read more about Tobacco Industry Tactics

TCRG Research

• R. Alebshehy, T. Gatehouse, K. Silver et al, 2023 UK Tobacco Industry Interference Index, University of Bath, November 2023
• O. Maynard, K. Evans-Reeves, Flower shows and festivals: tobacco industry hospitality and MP voting, The Guardian, 16 March 2015