Smoking

The big tobacco firms are on the warpaths as the government says it wants Australian-style plain packaging. What does the evidence say?

The claim “The real evidence from Australia… is clear: plain packaging has not had an impact on tobacco consumption but a KPMG report shows there has been an increase in illicit trade.” Imperial Tobacco, 28 November 2013 The background Labour called it a U-turn on a U-turn. The coalition appeared to kick the idea of…

The government has put off introducing plain cigarette packets because it says there’s no evidence of any impact. FactCheck begs to differ.

First we hear the government wants to ban branded fag packets, then we hear they don’t. FactCheck does some ashen-faced digging.