UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed raising the legal age that people in England can buy cigarettes by one year, every year until it applies to the whole population.
If passed into law, the smoking age would rise by one year every year, potentially phasing out smoking among young people almost completely as soon as 2040, a briefing paper said.
“A 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Conservative Party conference, where he announced the plan.
Smoking costs Britain’s health services 17 billion pounds ($20.6 billion) a year, he said, adding the government also needed to act on youth vaping.
It would consult on restricting the flavours and descriptions of vapes and look at regulating vape packaging and presentation, according to the briefing paper.
Campaign group Action on Smoking and Health welcomed Sunak’s plans, adding they could hasten the day when smoking was obsolete.
The tobacco industry criticised the proposals. The Tobacco Manufacturers Association said they were a “disproportionate attack” on adults’ rights and would fuel black market trade.
UK’s laws about smoking
The legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products across the UK is 18, having been raised from 16 in 2007 by the last Labour government.
In July 2007 it also became illegal to smoke in any pub, restaurant, nightclub and most workplaces and work vehicles, anywhere in the UK.
Currently, you must be 18 or older to buy and use a vape in the UK. There are no nationwide legal restrictions or laws enforced on vaping in public areas at present, and the use of them indoors is generally permitted unless an establishment has specifically imposed a ban.
How would a smoking ban work?
It is expected that the plan – which would effectively ban smoking – would follow a similar format to the measures introduced in New Zealand last December, when they banned the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
The reforms involve steadily increasing the legal smoking age, making it illegal for the next generation to ever buy cigarettes.
Although exact plans are unclear, it is expected that the UK would also ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco to anyone born after a certain date, raising the legal age for smoking every year. If the UK implemented the rules by 2027, anyone aged 14 and under now will never be able to buy a cigarette.
Mr Sunak told the Conservative Party conference that the ban would not take away the right to smoke from current smokers and that a parliament vote on the measure would be a “matter of conscience” with no party whip implemented.
Single-use vapes are also expected to be banned, following concerns that they were being “marketed towards children”.
