PLAN TO OUTLAW SMOKING OUTSIDE
And age limit ‘should increase every year’
SMOKING in public outdoor areas such as beer gardens and beaches should be banned, a Government review has recommended.
The independent review by Dr Javed Khan OBE, former chief executive of Barnardo’s, puts forward 15 proposals to make smoking “obsolete”.
Other ideas include raising the age at which tobacco can be bought from 18 by one year each year and a 30% tobacco duty increase.
Dr Khan also urges an extra £125million a year to help smokers quit.
He suggests promoting vaping as an alternative although acknowledges it is not risk-free. The UK has a target of being “smoke-free” (less than 5% of the population smoking) by 2030.
Dr Khan said in his report: “If we do nothing different, smoking will cause over half a million more deaths by 2030.
“Even if we reached the target of 5% by then, we would still have two million smokers, two-thirds of whom will die from smoking unless they quit.”
Public health minister Maggie Throup said the tobacco industry already makes a “significant contribution to public finances through tobacco duty, VAT and corporation tax”.
She added: “We will continue to explore the evidence base with the Treasury on the best options to raise funding in support of the Government’s ambition to be smoke-free by 2030.”
Downing Street said the new review will be “carefully considered”. England’s Chief Medical Officer Prof Sir Chris Whitty said calling smoking a “freedom” was dishonest.
He added:
“The majority of people who are smokers wish to quit but cannot because the cigarette industry has addicted them at a very young age. “They cannot. That is not freedom.”
Dr Khan added: “We need to commit to making smoking obsolete.”
Health Secretary Sajid Javid ordered the review into smoking in February.
But Andrew Gwynne, Shadow Minister for Public Health, said: “The Tories commissioned this review but have cut stop-smoking services in real terms by 29% since 2016.”