The Liberal Democrats have pledged to continue Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to ban disposable vapes, as well as introduce a deposit return scheme for drink bottles and require all electric vehicle charging points to be accessible using a bank card.
The measures are contained in the party’s general election manifesto launched today.
Other commitments that might affect forecourt retailers include a number of employment reforms, such as setting up an independent pay review to recommend a “genuine living wage”, a doubling of statutory maternity and shared parental pay rates to £350 per week, and making statutory sick pay available to more than one million workers earning less than £123 a week.
The party, led by Sir Ed Davey, has also said it will replace Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales with local police boards made up of councillors and representatives of local communities.
The Liberal Democrats’ attitude to vapes recognises the role the tobacco substitutes play in stopping smoking. Rather than ban them, they say they will outlaw the sale of single-use products and ensure children cannot access vapes. In other areas of health, they will extend the soft drinks levy to juice-based and milk-based drinks that are high in sugar.
On the deposit return scheme for food and drink bottles and containers, the party says it has learned from the difficulties the Scottish government faced introducing a similar programme. It says it will work with the devolved administrations to ensure consistency across the UK.
Latest polls show the Liberal Democrats on between 8% and 12% when it comes to voting intentions. The party which many believe could do well in currently Tory-held marginals in southern England – will be hoping to secure enough seats to hold the balance of power in a hung parliament, as it did after the 2010 election when it formed a coalition with the Conservatives under David Cameron.
