Breaking the chain of smoking

Ministers plan for a smoke-free Britain by 2030

MPS have released an action plan to stamp out smoking by the end of the decade in order to build back a “better and fairer” Britain after the pandemic. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health has warned that smoking not only kills people prematurely, it also drives them into poverty and reduces healthy life expectancy - with smokers needing help with everyday tasks an average of seven years earlier than non-smokers.

It says smoking is concentrated among disadvantaged groups, which locks in poverty and poor health across the generations.

Now, the cross-party group of MPS and peers has recommended that the Government introduce a range of measures, including raising the legal smoking age to 21 in order to secure their vision of a “Smokefree 2030”.

They want a “polluter pays” amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill to secure funding for a tobacco control programme - which would force manufacturers to pay to deliver an end to smoking.

They have also asked for targeted investment to provide extra support to help smokers quit in regions and communities where smoking does the most damage.

That includes those in routine and manual jobs, the unemployed, people who live in social housing, individuals with a mental health condition, and pregnant smokers.

Bob Blackman MP (Conservative), Chairman of the APPG, said: “Our report sets out measures which will put us on track to achieve the Government’s ambition to end smoking by 2030, but they can’t be delivered without funding.

“Tobacco manufacturers make extreme profits selling highly addictive, lethal products, while Government coffers are bare because of Covid-19.

“The manufacturers have the money, they should be made to pay to end the epidemic.”

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that half of all British men (51%) and four out of six women (41%) were smokers in 1974.

By 2019, those figures had fallen to just 15.9% of men and 12.5% of women.

The amount of tobacco being consumed by smokers has also fallen dramatically.

In 1979, men smoked an average of 21.6 cigarettes a day, and women 16.6. By 2019, that had fallen to 9.2 cigarettes per day among men, and 9.0 among women.

However, the survey question used to measure average tobacco consumption was changed in 2018, so the latest figures may not be directly comparable to earlier ones.

Despite the progress that has been made, the APPG doesn’t feel it is happening quickly enough.

Its report found an “iron chain” linking smoking and disadvantage, which “must be severed” to “reduce inequalities and level up our nation”.

It found that 30% of adults living in social housing smoked, compared to 22% of private renters and 10% of homeowners.

More than a quarter (27%) of unemployed adults smoked, compared to 15% of workers; while 23% of those in routine and manual occupations were smokers and only 9% of professionals and those in management roles.

The report also shows that 25% of pregnant women in the most deprived areas of the country smoked, compared to just 4% in the least deprived areas.

Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy, vice chair of the APPG, said: “The APPG report recommendations will sever the ‘iron chain’ linking smoking and disadvantage.

“They are essential if we are to build back fairer and level up communities.”