Dr J Robert Branston

Dr Rob Branston from the University of Bath, Suzanne Cass from ASH Wales, Chris Emmerson from Public Health Wales, and John Griffiths AM pictured at the Cross Party Group on Smoking and Health meeting at the Welsh Parliament

Great to have been able to speak at the 'Cross Party Group on Smoking and Health' session at the Welsh Parliament yesterday. The session focused on the great potential for a #tobacco Polluter Pays Levy for #Wales. Great to see the strong interest of those attending!

EU countries scale back tobacco tax proposal The latest draft recommends smaller tax hikes for cigarettes, heated tobacco and e-cigarette liquids.

Delighted to have been able to help with and be quoted alongside others in the important article in the The Examination by Kathryn Kranhold, that considers the latest watered-down proposals for reforming the #EU #Tobacco #Tax Directive

www.theexamination.org/articles/eu-...

Yesterday we were in Bristol, UK at the Annual General Meeting of Imperial Brands, one of the world's largest tobacco companies.

We put a number of questions to the board about the company’s activities.

TCRG co-directors @robbranston.bsky.social and Dr. @allengallagher.bsky.social explain more.

Latest News: In Ukraine, the tobacco industry has used tax increases on HTPs and e-cigs as an opportunity to raise prices but with lower net revenue per stick. https://bit.ly/3YogqWI

TCRG co-directors @allengallagher.bsky.social and @robbranston.bsky.social are quoted in this article in @contexte.com on the complex reasons behind the #IllicitTobaccoTrade and whether there is truth to claims that it is driven by increases in #TobaccoTaxation.

👉 www.contexte.com/fr/article/s...

Great to see the latest version of this really import work on #cigarette #taxation, especially with the position of the #UK improving and now being the number 1 ranked country globally. I just hope this continues and that other countries are able to increase their own tax record too!

Delighted to see the polluter pays levy scheme on #tobacco products I have been working on for a number of years has now received even more support.

Today, Peers meet again to debate the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

One key area for debate today is the polluter pays levy on tobacco manufacturers, a measure that could generate £700 million a year 💷🚭

📣 Join us for our next #TobaccoEndgame CRE #Webinar on 🚭 tobacco product price caps! Dr Rob Branston will present 'A new avenue for tobacco control: price cap regulation'.
📆Wednesday, 12 November
⏰9:00am AEST
🔗 tobacco-endgame.centre.uq.edu.au/event/sessio...
@robbranston.bsky.social

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Our recommendation is that the content be reviewed and, if found to be in breach, taken down. We would also recommend that the BBC exercises caution in future when deciding whether to engage with the tobacco industry and its representatives.

Read our complaint letter to the BBC below 👇

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We believe that by giving a powerful platform to a tobacco company, this content breached the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on impartiality and related standards.

Very happy to have been a co-signatory on this complaint letter to the BBC

Effect of eliminating the sale of duty-free tobacco products: a natural experiment during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan, 2020–2023 Introduction Amidst the global effort to curb cross-border transmission of COVID-19, numerous nations enforced international travel restrictions. One example is Taiwan, which witnessed an 85%–90% redu...

My new paper looks at the impact of COVID travel restrictions on the sale of duty-free tobacco products in #Taiwan. Not being able to access cheap #dutyfree meant less #tobacco sold, a win for public health. Time for duty-free tobacco to be banned!
doi.org/10.1136/tc-2...

Delighted to report that @allengallagher.bsky.social and I
have been appointed as Co-Directors of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath. We aim to continue the great work that @tcrgbath.bsky.social has done to date!

www.bath.ac.uk/announcement...

Examining cigarette, heated tobacco and e-cigarette market pricing and tax pass-through in Ukraine during the 2019–2022 tax reforms Introduction This study offers a comprehensive examination of the pricing strategies/dynamics used by the tobacco/nicotine industry in response to tax increases using Ukraine as a case study during th...

My new paper with @zainebdanish.bsky.social @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @partnershipfree.bsky.social on #HTP taxes/prices in Ukraine. We find similar pricing tactics to combustion cigs and that lower HTP taxes were just a subsidy for the #tobacco industry tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/earl...

Producing #tobacco products is hugely profitable. Wholesale price caps & a #polluterpays levy could stop the industry making so much from a deadly product, increase government tax revenues, and stop the industry selling with price. Public health + government finances both win! tinyurl.com/mt5fb5bs

Time to levy the indefensible profits of Big Tobacco | SMF Rachel Reeves does not want to increase taxes again. This much is clear from the Spring Statement where, rather than raise revenues to ease the new pressures on the public...

Great new blog by Mark Lloyd - Head of Policy at the RSA / former economic and fiscal policy in HM Treasury and No10 - adding his voice to our work that calls for a new scheme to fix the price of tobacco products and apply a #polluterpays levy to raise £700m annually

www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country: No one starts, everyone stops, no profit in tobacco - ASH A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country – published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health in April 2025 – sets out the urgent actions needed to end smoking in a generation, cut health in...

APPG report just out calls for 10 measures to make #smoking obsolete in the UK within 20 years. It adopts our work and joins calls for the introduction of a #polluterpays levy to limit industry prices and raise £700 million a year from the #tobaccoindustry

ash.org.uk/resources/vi...

🎉Last night MPs voted to pass the historic Tobacco and Vapes Bill which will phase out the sale of tobacco to the next generation, protecting children from the harms of smoking.

Image showing people with linked arms and a caption that reads as "To safeguard citizens' health, the new European Commission must prioritise renewing the TTD with public health at its core, embedding these proposed fiscal measures into the directive

#taxation is one of the key tools to address tobacco use, and in the EU this is governed by the tobacco tax directive #TTD. In my new @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social paper with Prof López-Nicolás/Dr Ross, we evaluate leaked proposal for reform, finding enhancements not perfection
doi.org/10.1016/j.dr...

(2/2) The report by The Investigative Desk with support from Tax Justice Network Africa and the Tobacco Control Research Group suggests there could be a tax discrepancy of up to $28 million.

Delighted to have been involved with this really important project.

💪Strong words from Commissioner Hoekstra in FISC!

On Feb 6, @wopkehoekstra.ec.europa.eu called for stricter tobacco control, higher taxes & fairer taxation for new products across the EU. 💪🔥

Great to see the Commissioner stepping up! We look forward to the revision of the TTD. 🚭

A very helpful resource for someone new to Bluesky. Thank you for putting it together Marita! @mhef.bsky.social

✨ Episode five of our podcast Deadly Industry: Challenging Big Tobacco is out now.

Dr. Allen Gallagher joins Louis to lift the lid on #illicittrade in tobacco including how #BigTobacco is involved and how it can be tackled.

Listen: shows.acast.com/deadly-indus...

#NewPodcast #DeadlyIndustryPod

✨ Episode four of Deadly Industry: Challenging Big Tobacco is out now.

In this episode, Dr. Rob Branston discusses all things money with Louis including the vast profitability of the #tobaccoindustry and how #tobaccotax works.

Listen: www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/de...

#NewPodcast #DeadlyIndustryPod

New podcast digs into Tobacco Industry tactics in pursuit of profit over health The Tobacco Control Research Group releases its new podcast series, Deadly Industry: Challenging Big Tobacco

Discover the ground-breaking research of The University's @tcrgbath.bsky.social with their new podcast.

In this gripping 8-episode series, hosted by TCRG investigative researcher Louis Laurence, you'll dive deep into the tobacco industry's pursuit of profit, at the expense of public health