Riot Eliquid

31/10/2026

The Budget cut business rates for almost every small shop in England. The one exception is the specialist v**e shop, the place that helps smokers quit.

The mini-mart down the road that sells v**es from behind the till now pays nothing. The specialist next door pays around £4,600 a year.

Nearly three in four underage v**e sales caught by Trading Standards happen in convenience stores and general shops, not specialists. Yet the specialists are the ones being charged.

If a v**e shop helped you or someone you know quit, tell your MP: saveva**ng.co.uk

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30/10/2026

Riot’s take on blind ranking - Halloween Edition 🤠🎃

12/10/2026

Rage baiting at Riot HQ 😂

02/10/2026

Yesterday we met Alex Ballinger MP (Halesowen) on Cradley Heath high street, to talk about underage and illegal v**e sales in his constituency.

We took him through what our FOI research found: across 21 Trading Standards services, a shop that could sell a v**e gets checked about once every eleven years. Then we made the case for the retail licensing scheme that's already law in the To***co and Vapes Act and still switched off. It would give Trading Standards three things they don't have: a register of who's actually selling, a sanction that doesn't need a court, and a licence fee to pay for the checks.

Sandwell's Trading Standards team and West Midlands Police have closed seven premises on the high street in under three months, including the one we're standing outside. That's enforcement working but It took an 18-month BBC investigation to get there.

We finished at VapouR FlavourZ Vapour Flavourz, where Des has run his specialist store for 15 years and worked that high street for 30. He wants a licensing scheme too. When someone who's been there that long is asking to be licensed, that tells you most of what you need to know.

29/09/2026

“Riot Labs Says Open Letter from Health Orgs is Hypocritical”

READ MORE 👇

ASH's consultation guide says it is concerned that a total display ban could undermine the role of va**ng in smoking cessation, while also supporting the proposed restrictions.

29/09/2026

Britain's leading anti-smoking charity, Action on Smoking and Health, says hiding v**es like ci******es could stop smokers quitting. Now it's asking ministers to do exactly that.

Meanwhile, a shop that could sell a v**e to a child gets checked about once every eleven years, and the open letter doesn't mention it once.

The consultation closes Friday. Have your say in 10 minutes at www.saveva**ng.co.uk

Full story: https://rioteliquid.com/blogs/news/ash-open-letter-v**e-display-ban

ASH's own guidance warns that hiding v**es like ci******es risks undermining quitting. Its open letter asks ministers to do it anyway. Here's what would actually protect children.

28/09/2026

https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/people/freedom-of-information-request-reveals-concerns-over-city-shops-selling-v**es-to-children-9158446

“A sandwich shop in the same street has a legal inspection cycle and these shops have none”

25/09/2026

The headlines are real. Underage va**ng and an illegal market that's growing fast. None of that is in dispute but recently, it led the Government to call v**e shops "anti-social businesses."

Our film asks whether that label is justified. It follows Dave, who'd tried to stop smoking and couldn't, until a local shop helped him do it.

Children shouldn't be able to buy v**es. Nobody's arguing with that. But you can protect one without punishing the other.

Consultation closes 11:59pm, 2 October.
Ten minutes at www.saveva**ng.co.uk to respond and email your MP.

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https://youtu.be/yOQGWaAd_Qo?si=YN6psWeqHB49iXjG

In July 2026, the Government called v**e shops "anti-social busines...

18/09/2026

🚨 Which gets checked more often where you live... the sandwich shop, or the shop selling v**es to kids? 🚨

Across the UK the current v**e regulations are not being governed, yet the Government has the bright idea to bombard trading standards with more...

Maybe, before we add any more rules, we should enforce the ones we already have!

Read the full story at https://rioteliquid.com/blogs/news/underage-v**e-enforcement-foi-data

Or visit saveva**ng.co.uk before the consultation closes 2 October.

Note: Riot Labs Freedom of Information responses covering 21 Trading Standards services, 2023/24 to 2025/26. Full data, method and every caveat at saveva**ng.co.uk/data

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