Convictions for illegal tobacco sales have fallen by nearly 30% even as seizures hit record levels – just as Andy Burnham unveils his plan to reinvigorate the high street. A paltry 83 people were convicted last year, down from 118 the year before, despite 201 arrests linked to the trade. Illegal business is booming, driven by organised crime gangs which terrorise Britain’s high streets…
Over the last year seizures reached a record 1.9 billion cigarettes worth more than £1.1 billion according to HMRC – triple the number seized three years ago, but prosecutions and convictions are not keeping pace. University College London estimates that one in four British smokers has bought cigarettes from an illicit source…
And the price gap is about to get even wider, with tobacco duty set to rise by another £1.20 per packet in October. Burnham’s plans to combat ‘vape shops’ do not include any serious action on the illicit tobacco gangs causing high street misery…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”