Lawyers and Politics

Leading scientists accuse European Commissioner of ‘misleading statements’ on smoke-free nicotine products

A coalition of 23 leading European experts in medicine, toxicology, epidemiology and addiction science has accused European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare Olivér Várhelyi of disseminating “false and misleading” information about the risks posed by smoke-free nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco.

In an open letter dated February 25, 2026 and addressed to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, the signatories claim Várhelyi’s repeated assertions such products carry health risks “comparable to or even bigger than smoking itself” are “scientifically untenable” and could distort upcoming European Union legislation on tobacco taxation and product regulation.

“We write to you to correct dangerous, false, and misleading statements about novel smoke-free tobacco and nicotine products made by Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi,” the letter states...

They stress that these products are not “safe” or “harmless” but beyond any reasonable doubt far less harmful than cigarettes.

Olivér Várhelyi is a lawyer by profession, but he's convinced -


Most starkly, in a December 2025 interview with Euractiv, when asked if he was convinced that alternative tobacco products are as harmful as traditional cigarettes, Várhelyi replied: “Yes, I am. Absolutely. One hundred per cent.”

But we already know about lawyers and politics.

Curiously amateurish

I’ve watched a number of Public Accounts Committee videos of Rupert Lowe questioning civil servants about spending. A notable aspect is the civil servant’s language where generalities, vague excuses and virtuous aspirations are used to evade damaging criticism.

The language also seems intended to evade what from a departmental perspective are high risk details. These are details which could presumably point to incompetence, waste and even theft or fraud. Otherwise, why the evasion? Perhaps because evasive language is also used internally as an alternative to confronting lax standards.

It can be uncomfortable to watch. Curiously amateurish too.

Sinclair C5 HTX (Hybrid Turbine eXperimental)

 

Don't do it - they will nick your cod

Iceland seeks vote in August on whether to restart EU membership talks

Iceland’s government says the country will hold a referendum in August on whether to restart European Union membership talks

Iceland's government wants to hold a referendum in August on whether to restart membership talks with the European Union, more than a decade after getting cold feet about joining the bloc.

Rupert v Tim

Where BBC Director-General Tim Davie comes across as an uneasy civil servant on shaky ground.

 

Oh dear, how sad, never mind

Soham killer Ian Huntley 'unlikely to survive prison attack'

The former school caretaker, who murdered 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, has been kept on life support in hospital after being hit repeatedly over the head by an inmate armed with a metal bar.

The pied piper of national ruin

Joseph Dinnage has a topical CAPX piece on Zack Polanski. Worth reading, but if voters can't see through Polanski, there isn't much to hope for.

How to beat Zack Polanski

• Like the pied piper of economic ruin, Zack Polanski is leading young people to misery
• The British Right must learn from the Canadian Conservatives' success with young voters
• You can’t blame the young for feeling sufficiently disenchanted to vote for a man nicknamed ‘hypnotits’

The Green Party’s victory in last week’s Gorton and Denton by-election was a grim indicator of where British politics could be heading. With 40% of the vote, Hannah Spencer won her campaign by stirring the pot of local sectarianism; releasing campaign videos in Urdu and Bengali, accusing the Government of funding ‘genocide’ in Gaza, and – most absurdly – claiming that ‘people like’ the Reform UK candidate Matthew Goodwin caused the Manchester arena bombing by ‘dividing people’.

You’ll notice that none of these strategies have anything to do with the environment. Under Zack Polanski’s leadership, the Greens have shifted from environmentalism to what French conservatives have termed Islamo-gauchisme – a fusion of traditional Leftism with the imported communal grievances of a growing Muslim population. Polanski has branded this the politics of ‘hope’, but of course this menacing ideology of economic self-destruction and social division is nothing of the sort.