MPs criticise Blackburn Rovers vaping sponsorship deal

The club has been sponsored for six years by the vaping company

MPs have criticised Blackburn Rovers and other teams for promoting vape companies through sponsorship deals.

Steve Brine, Conservative chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee, said the Championship football team should "look themselves in the mirror".

Meanwhile another MP said she was "outraged" in the opposition day debate in the Commons on children and vaping.

The club said its shirt sponsorship with Totally Wicked which is in a sixth season did not promote child vaping.

The Labour motion said the party was concerned children were being "inappropriately exposed to e-cigarette promotions" and, called for the government to "ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children".

SNP frontbencher, Kirsten Oswald, said: "We would find that absolutely unacceptable if a football club came out with cigarette branding on their shirts, and I cannot understand why it would be any more acceptable for a football club to come out with vaping advertising."

She was "equally outraged" when Conservative former minister Caroline Johnson noted the Blackburn-based vaping company also sponsored St Helens Rugby Football Club, with its stadium named the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Ms Oswald said: "This is really unacceptable. If we're serious about dealing with the harms to children and young people, we really should expect that sports clubs are going to be somewhere that they can see positive imagery."

'Totally unacceptable'

Mr Brine, a former health minister, said: "I would ask Blackburn Rovers to look themselves in the mirror about that one, as much as the company that are doing the advertising. Because it takes two to tango. So yeah, I am concerned about it."

Speaking more broadly about the issue of vaping being marketed to children, he said: "This is totally unacceptable and it is out of control."

Health minister Neil O'Brien said the government was committed to doing all it can "to prevent children from starting vaping and we're already taking robust actions in a range of areas".

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He added: "But it is essential that that is evidence-based and that we have measures that will actually be effective."

A Blackburn Rovers spokesman said: "At no point during our long-standing relationship has the idea that the Totally Wicked brand might appeal disproportionately to children been raised and we have seen no evidence to suggest that our sponsorship has encouraged an uptake of vaping among children.

"Both Blackburn Rovers and Totally Wicked advocate that vaping has a positive and proven role in supporting the reduction and ultimate eradication of smoking within our communities."

The spokesman added the logo does not appear on any playing shirts or replica shirts for under-18s.