As reported by BBC News, the UK government proposes stringent anti-tobacco laws aiming to prevent anyone born after 2009 from purchasing cigarettes, amidst mixed political support
Rishi Sunak wants to make Generation Alpha, born since 2009, the UK’s first smoke-free generation in a major public health intervention.
Anyone turning 15 from this year would be banned from ever buying cigarettes under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which also makes vapes less appealing to children.
A number of Tory MPs have told the BBC they won’t back the bill.
Conservative MPs will get a free vote on it so they won’t be ordered to vote with the government, but the bill is likely to pass as it has Labour and Lib Dem support.
The bill would make the sale of tobacco products, rather than the act of smoking, illegal.
Tobacco use is the UK’s single biggest preventable cause of death, killing two-thirds of long-term users and causing 80,000 deaths every year.
On top of that, a patient is admitted to hospital with a smoking-related condition, such as heart disease, strokes and lung cancer, almost every minute in England.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the bill would save thousands of lives and “ease the strain” on the NHS.
She said: “Too many people know someone whose life has been tragically cut short or irreversibly changed because of smoking, which despite significant progress remains the UK’s biggest preventable killer.
“The truth is that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. It is uniquely harmful and that is why we are taking this important action today to protect the next generation.”
Under the plans, trading standards officers would get new powers to issue on-the-spot £100 fines to shops selling tobacco or vapes to children, with all the money raised going towards further enforcement.
There would also be new restrictions on flavours, packaging and the sale of vapes to make them less appealing to children.
Figures show that one in five children has tried vaping despite it being illegal for under-18s, while the number of children using vapes has tripled in the past three years.
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