Noah McCrory
London – UK lawmakers have voted decisively in favor of legislation that aims to eventually ban smoking in Britain. The controversial Tobacco and Vapes Bill is now one step closer to becoming law, after clearing its first hurdle in parliament.
The bill would make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born after January 1, 2009, with the legal age for purchasing tobacco products increasing by one year every year until it covers the entire population.
Supporters of the legislation, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has made it a key policy of his government, say the aim is to create the UK’s “first smoke-free generation”.
If enacted, it would be one of the toughest national anti-smoking measures in the world.
Under current law, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy tobacco products in the UK, but under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, children who turn 15 this year, or anyone younger, they will never be able to buy tobacco legally. in Great Britain.
The proposed legislation would not criminalize smoking, but rather the sale of tobacco depending on the age of the customer, and would ensure that anyone who is currently authorized to purchase tobacco products is never prevented from doing so.
But despite praise from some health experts and broad support from parliament, the bill has generated controversy – and even provoked rebellion – within Sunak’s own Conservative Party.
The legislation was debated on Tuesday in the House of Commons, where some more libertarian-minded MPs argued it would limit personal freedoms and called it “unconservative”.
Liz Truss, who served very briefly as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2022 called the proposal a “virtue-signaling piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future.”
Another former prime minister, Boris Johnson, said it was “crazy” that the party of Winston Churchill, Britain’s famous cigar-loving World War II leader, was considering “banning cigars.”
Conservative Member of Parliament Simon Clarke told CBS News partner network BBC News that the ban would be counterproductive.
“I think this really runs the risk of making smoking more legal,” he said. “It certainly runs the risk of creating a black market and also creating an uncontrollable challenge for the authorities.”
Although the number of people who smoke in Britain has been declining for years, campaign group Action on Smoking and Health says it remains the leading cause of preventable disease and premature death in England, accounting for approx. 74,600 deaths every year.
The proposed bill would also attempt to reduce the number of young people starting to vape. It would ban the sale of cheap, disposable vaporizers, often seen in the hands of minors, and restrict the range of vaporizer flavors available in an attempt to reduce uptake by children.
A similar smoking ban it was proposed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, but was scrapped earlier this year by the country’s new coalition government.
