Out of Sight, Out of Mind petition hand-in

On the way to submit the Out of Sight, Out of Mind petition (from left to right: David Taylor MP, Chair All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health; Cancer Campaigner Naomi Hodgson; Richard Davidson, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Cancer Research UK).

A petition signed by over 50,000 people calling for the Government to protect children and young people from tobacco marketing was handed in by Cancer Research UK on November 19th 2008. David Taylor MP, Chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health, accompanied Cancer Research UK and 18 year-old cancer campaigner Naomi Hodgson to hand in the petition at the Department of Health. The campaign urges the Government to prohibit tobacco displays at the point of sale, prohibit tobacco vending machines, and introduce plain packaging for tobacco products.

David Taylor MP announced the petition hand-in at Prime Minister's Question Time, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown applauded Cancer Research UK in his response for the work the charity has done. Gordon Brown went on to confirm that the Government plans to announce a new tobacco control strategy in 2009, and would be publishing their response to their consultation on the future of tobacco control shortly.

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