Following the Government's decision to shelve the plan for plain cigarette packaging the co-leader of the National Health Action Party, Dr Clive Peedell slammed the government saying:
"We utterly condemn the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt for shelving plans for plain cigarette packaging. As a lung cancer specialist, I'm appalled. It sends out totally the wrong public health message. The government should be showing leadership in promoting public health and preventative medicine, not pandering to big business and the tobacco lobby.
"The media should be investigating the links of Tory Ministers and advisors to the Tobacco industry, such as Health Minister Lord Howe and David Cameron's advisor Lynton Crosby"
"It's yet another example of how this government's health policy is compromised by its conflicts of interest with the private sector. The former health secretary Andrew Lansley, who pushed through the Health & Social Care Act, received substantial donations from Care UK, the private health firm. While MPs who voted in favour of the Act stand to gain from their links with private health companies."
