Three ways to fight this. Do all three.
1
Email your MP
Two minutes, on the home page. MPs answer to constituents. That's you.
Start now →
You are here2
Answer the consultation
The consultation is where the decision actually gets made. Our guide walks you through it, box by box, and drafts your answers.
Go →
3
Join the Relapse Register
One tick while you do step 1. On the record: these rules risk sending quitters back to cigarettes.
See the register →
Answer the consultation itself
The survey is six topics and it lets you skip the ones you want to skip. Three are about vaping. Work down this page with the survey open beside it, and copy each box across. Edit the words into your own first. The Government counts identical responses as one; personal answers each count.
What the survey actually looks like
- 1.About youEveryone
2 tick-box questions
- 2.Tobacco packagingSafe to skip
15 tick-box questions, 5 optional free-text boxes
- 3.Heated tobacco device appearanceSafe to skip
6 tick-box questions, 5 optional free-text boxes
- 4.Vaping and nicotine product packaging and flavour descriptorsAnswer this one
19 tick-box questions, 6 optional free-text boxes
- 5.Vape device appearanceAnswer this one
6 tick-box questions, 5 optional free-text boxes
- 6.Retail displayAnswer this one
35 tick-box questions, 15 optional free-text boxes
- 7.Consultation stage impact assessmentsSafe to skip
5 optional free-text boxes
- 8.File upload, then SubmitEveryone
Every free-text box is optional. Only a response you Submit on the final page counts.
All optional, but every answer makes your words more individual, and individual responses are the ones the Government has to count.
Open the survey at consultations.dhsc.gov.uk in another tab. Headings below are the survey's own, in its own order. Deadline: 11:59pm on 2 October 2026.
0 of 3 vaping topics done
Step 1 of 8
Everyone2 tick-box questionsAbout you
Demographics are optional. Your smoking, vaping and nicotine use are not, and that is where quitting with a vape gets counted.
Step 2 of 8
Safe to skip15 tick-box questions, 5 free-text boxesTobacco packaging
At the gate: Skip it. Nothing here affects the vaping questions.
Step 3 of 8
Safe to skip6 tick-box questions, 5 free-text boxesHeated tobacco device appearance
At the gate: Skip it.
Step 4 of 8
Answer this one19 tick-box questions, 6 free-text boxesVaping and nicotine product packaging and flavour descriptors
At the gate: Say yes. Plain packs and flavour names are both in here.
Every question is asked twice, once for vaping products and once for nicotine products such as pouches.
Restricting the colour on packaging for all vaping and nicotine products
Restrict the colour of packaging of all vaping products to white
The Government's own impact assessment says packs should stay distinct from tobacco.
Restrict the colour of packaging of all nicotine products to white
Hit Draft my answers above to fill this box.
Restricting imagery, branding, text and other promotional features
Restrict imagery, branding, text and promotional features on the packaging of all vaping products
A total imagery ban plus white packs is plain packaging in all but name.
Restrict imagery, branding, text and promotional features on the packaging of all nicotine products
Restricting the shape, materials and safety features of packaging
Four questions, one box, and two of them are worth agreeing with.
Uniform pack shapes, and restrictions on materials and finishes that enhance appeal (vaping products)
No evidence pack shape drives youth uptake.
Uniform pack shapes, and restrictions on materials and finishes that enhance appeal (nicotine products)
Packaging must be both child-resistant and tamper-evident (vaping products)
Protects children. No downside.
Packaging must be both child-resistant and tamper-evident (nicotine products)
Restricting flavour descriptions on vaping and nicotine product packaging
Eight questions, one box. A name may describe the product. It may not perform for children.
Restrict flavour descriptors to a single lead flavour (vaping products)
'Blueberry-apple' is a description, not a marketing trick.
Restrict flavour descriptors to a single lead flavour (nicotine products)
Restrict concept and sensory flavour descriptors (vaping products)
'Unicorn Dream' should go. 'Ice' and 'menthol' describe the actual product.
Restrict concept and sensory flavour descriptors (nicotine products)
Restrict confectionery, sweets, dessert and cake name descriptors (vaping products)
As drafted this also catches custard, vanilla and apple pie.
Restrict confectionery, sweets, dessert and cake name descriptors (nicotine products)
Restrict alcohol and drink name descriptors (vaping products)
Cola, lemonade and iced tea describe a taste.
Restrict alcohol and drink name descriptors (nicotine products)
Hit Draft my answers above to fill this box.
Product information on and inside vaping and nicotine product packaging
Require the consumer information listed above on and inside the packaging of all vaping products
Ingredients, expiry, age symbols, nicotine strength: good for every adult buyer.
Require the consumer information listed above on and inside the packaging of all nicotine products
Time allowed to implement new packaging requirements
Implementation period of no less than 12 months, from when the detail of any new requirements is clear
Twelve months minimum. Small UK manufacturers need every week of it.
Step 5 of 8
Answer this one6 tick-box questions, 5 free-text boxesVape device appearance
At the gate: Say yes. One of these six is the strongest proposal in the consultation.
Restricting the colour and finish of vapes
Limit the colour of a vaping device, including all visible parts, to white, black or grey with a matt finish
Colour is not what draws children. Mimicry is, and that question is below.
Ban cosmetic lights on vape devices
Hit Draft my answers above to fill this box.
Restricting branding, imagery and artwork on vapes
Restrict all branding, imagery and artwork on vapes
A single uniform brand line on a monochrome device is standardisation.
Restricting the digital screens on vapes
Restrict digital screens to safety and status information such as battery and liquid level, in greyscale only
Stopping vapes imitating other products
Vapes should not be permitted to mimic the design of other products and items
The single most effective proposal in the consultation. Back it loudly.
Time allowed to implement new device requirements
Implementation period of no less than 12 months, from when the detail of any new requirements is clear
Step 6 of 8
Answer this one35 tick-box questions, 15 free-text boxesRetail display
At the gate: Say yes, and do not be put off by what comes first. Skip this topic and you skip the vaping questions inside it.
First, 26 questions about tobacco
Tobacco, cigarette papers, waterpipes, Scotland. None of it is about vapes, every box is optional, so keep clicking. The vaping questions are next.
Restricting the display of vaping and nicotine products across the UK
No option says right for supermarkets, wrong for age-restricted specialist shops. The box has to do that work.
Restrict the display of vaping products, including a requested temporary display having to take place from behind a sales counter
Right in general retail, wrong without a specialist-shop exemption.
Restrict the display of nicotine products, on the same basis
A requested or incidental display of vaping and nicotine products must not result in the display of tobacco products, cigarette papers, heated tobacco devices or herbal smoking products
Hit Draft my answers above to fill this box.
Display of prices of vaping and nicotine products across the UK
Restrict the display of prices for vaping products, and allow nicotine strength and ingredients on the list
Separate lists from tobacco because vapes carry lower harm: the Government's own words.
Restrict the display of prices for nicotine products, on the same basis
Exemptions to display restrictions of vaping and nicotine products across the UK
This is the survey's own box for business exemptions, so ask for one here.
Allow the display of vaping products in relevant trade premises
Allow the display of nicotine products in relevant trade premises
Exemptions to display restrictions for vaping and nicotine products in pharmacies in England, Wales and Scotland
The consultation says of vape shops: "we do not propose that the same exemption applies to vape shops, since they are not clinical settings".
Community pharmacies in England, Wales and Scotland permitted an exemption for the limited display of vaping and nicotine products
Then ask why a setting children can walk into, but not one they cannot.
Hit Draft my answers above to fill this box.
Time allowed to implement all new display restrictions
A minimum of 6 months' notice, from when the detail of any new requirements is clear
Step 7 of 8
Safe to skip5 free-text boxesConsultation stage impact assessments
At the gate: Skip it unless you have costs or evidence of your own.
No agree or disagree questions. Five free-text prompts, offered for each of four impact assessments.
Step 8 of 8
EveryoneFile upload, then Submit
The survey only counts your response if you reach this page and press Submit.
Do not stop before Submit
An unfinished survey counts for nothing. Then come back and add your name to the Relapse Register, which is the number nobody in Government has.