- Sunak declared that the “biggest public health intervention in a generation” would be the sale of cigarettes.
- The goal of the plan is to gradually remove tobacco sales.
- Over £10 billion in taxes were collected from the tobacco business last year, a 3% decrease from 2021–22.
English Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared that the “biggest public health intervention in a generation” would be to gradually phase out the sale of cigarettes. The goal of the plan is to gradually remove tobacco sales by increasing the smoking age by one year per year.
Labour has said it will support the idea, and Conservative MPs will be given a free vote. The policy’s opponents claim that it might result in the emergence of a “black market”. Over £10 billion in taxes were collected from the tobacco business last year, a 3% decrease from 2021–22.
Anti-smoking
In Sunak’s opinion, smoking is the leading cause of disability, illness, and death that may be prevented in society, and he claims that efforts to limit personal freedom are “never easy.”
Smoking raises the risk of strokes, heart problems, dementia, stillbirth, and one in four cancer deaths. There are still over five million smokers in England and six million in the entire UK, despite smoking rates declining since the 1970s.
Similar restrictions that are being imposed in New Zealand, where purchasing tobacco products will stay prohibited for those born after 2008, are being considered there, where the age at which cigarettes can be sold has been raised. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all have devolved smoking age regulations.
While the Scottish government has a goal to make Scotland tobacco-free by 2034, the Welsh government has stated that it intends to copy the prohibition.
To pass the law, Labour pledged to “not play politics with public health” and to provide the prime minister its support. According to reports, former prime minister Liz Truss will not support the proposal and called for the party to “stop banning things.”
According to Christopher Snowdon, director of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, if the idea were to be put into place, “massive black markets” would result.
According to Michelle Mitchell of Cancer Research UK, the smoking age announcement was a “critical step” and the prime minister should be commended for prioritizing public health over the interests of the tobacco industry.
