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London Vapers Breathe a Sigh of Relief as Bloomberg Rules Himself Out of Running for London Mayor

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As if the e-cigarette industry in the UK needed yet another critic there were widespread stories last week that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been invited to be the Conservative party’s candidate for next year's London mayoral election. Despite distancing himself from the rumours, it would have been interesting to see whether the Conservative party had pushed through with this move amid concerns that many London citizens would see this as interference by a foreign national. Vapers around the capital will be crossing their fingers that he comes nowhere near the political landscape this side of the Atlantic, for Bloomberg is a known anti-vaping personality. Michael Bloomberg, together with multi-billionaire Bill Gates, is pushing extremely hard against the tobacco industry and the electronic cigarette sector. They believe that further taxes and restrictions are required and the last thing vapers would want is for them to bring their political gravy train to London next year! Michael Bloomberg's CV There is no doubt that Michael Bloomberg is one of the US’s more charismatic business entrepreneurs and politicians. While he attracts anger and praise in equal measures he is extremely focused and does not very often sway too far from his beliefs. As we touched on above, one of his plans as mayor of New York City was to effectively ban the use of e-cigarettes indoors, something which did in his last day in office. Yes, he actually signed a law banning the use of electronic cigarettes indoors during his last working day! Is this a challenge for the UK vaping industry? Naturally, British ecig enthusiasts would not welcome the site of Michael Bloomberg opening the doors of his office as mayor of London. He is unlikely to have mellowed during a short sabbatical since leaving his role as mayor of New York City and he will likely bring his political beliefs and aims to London. However, let's not forget that the UK vaping industry, and indeed the worldwide vaping industry, has been under enormous pressure since it re-emerged at the start of the century. We have seen the European Commission attempting to introduce extremely strict regulations for the future, but even before their introduction the industry has taken this particular authority to the courts. Those who see the emergence of Michael Bloomberg as yet another negative for the vaping industry would be justified in this belief but do not write off this growing and vocal sector. Indeed, as we have seen over the last few weeks in the US, political meddling of an extremely biased nature against ecigs has actually been ignored by many people Conclusion Bloomberg responded to the rumours saying he had "zero interest" in the role of London Mayor, but it will nevertheless be interesting to see whether Michael Bloomberg formally puts himself forward for the role of Mayor of London in next year's elections. He will certainly not be welcomed by the vaping industry but this is just another challenge to which the sector has risen to time and time again over the years. The reality is that the electronic cigarette industry is now too large to ban outright and even Draconian restrictions. At this moment in time not backed up by medical facts, would be difficult to introduce. So, Michael Rubens Bloomberg you better get yourself ready for the fight of your life if you do actaully intend to run as the Mayor of London... your attempts to stub out electronic cigarettes will be met with ferocious opposition! Guest Blog Brought to you by... Ok - E-cigarettes

By Lenny

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