National Trading Standards Chairman Lord Bichard has warned that the illicit tobacco trade is far more sinister than simply burning a hole in the Treasury’s coffers. It’s fuelling organised crime, money laundering and even child exploitation…
Speaking last week at the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee – which is examining Burnham’s plan to revive British high streets – Lord Bichard said:
“A lot of people think that what’s happening is quite low level crime but it isn’t. it’s increasingly linked to organized crime. it’s increasingly linked to child exploitation, money laundering, immigration, I could go on. I think one of the things that we want to do and I think government could do more to help us is to bring home to people that when they buy illicit tobacco what they’re actually doing is funding child abuse.”
Think tank the Centre for Social Justice’s Josh Nicholson added that HMRC should reassess its flawed methods for guessing the scale of the illicit tobacco trade. He also called for tobacco and vape shop licensing, tougher penalties for landlords and stronger closure orders. That Labour high streets commitment looking shakier than ever…
Robert Jenrick on the Today programme:
“Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile, as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t…”