Lawmakers support bill to phase out smoking for good

The British government’s plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in parliament despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.

The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009.

If passed, the bill will give Britain some of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the world. Authorities say it will create modern Britain’s “first smoke-free generation”.

Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, children turning 15 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco. Once implemented – officials are aiming for 2027 – the legal age of sale that people in England can buy cigarettes will be raised by one year, every year until it is eventually illegal for the whole population.

The bill also has measures to crack down on youth vaping, such as banning the sale of cheap disposable vapes and restricting their flavours to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine.

It is currently illegal for anyone to sell cigarettes or tobacco products and vapes to people under 18 years old throughout the UK.

Lawmakers voted 383 to 67 to give the bill a second reading late on Tuesday after an afternoon of debate.

Although the bill was widely praised by health experts and had the support of the opposition Labour Party, Sunak faced rebellion from the more libertarianminded members of his party, who criticised the proposals as “unconservative”.

Conservative lawmakers were granted a free vote, meaning they could vote with their personal conscience rather than follow the official party line.

Opponents, such as the smokers’ rights lobbying group FOREST, said the move risked creating a black market and would “treat future generations of adults like kids”.

Prominent voices within the Conservative Party, including two of Sunak’s predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said the plans went against conservative values by limiting people’s personal freedoms.

The bill was a “virtue-signalling piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future”, Truss told parliament during the debate.

Other high-profile Tories, including business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a cabinet minister, also opposed the bill.

The plans were believed to have been inspired by similar policies proposed by New Zealand under former prime minister Jacinda Ardern, but the country’s new coalition government repealed the bill this year.

The government said smoking would not be criminalised, and the phased changes meant that anyone who could legally buy cigarettes now would not be prevented from doing so in the future.

The number of people who smoke in Britain has declined by two-thirds since the 1970s, but 6.4 million – about 13 per cent of the population – still smoke, according to official figures.

Authorities say smoking causes 80,000 deaths a year in Britain and remains the No 1 preventable cause of death, disability and poor health.