LAST UPDATE | 16 Apr
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak’s proposal to ban young people from ever being able to legally smoke tobacco has cleared its first House of Commons hurdle, despite a swathe of Conservative MPs objecting to it in a blow to his authority.
MPs voted 383 to 67, majority 316, to give the Tobacco and Vapes Bill a second reading.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009, which covers children who are currently 15 or younger.
The legislation would not ban smoking outright as anyone who can legally buy tobacco now will be able to continue to do so if the Bill becomes law.
The Bill will also give the government new powers to clamp down on young people vaping, which include imposing restrictions on flavours and regulating the way they are packaged and sold to make them less appealing to children.
Trading standards officers will be able to issue fines to retailers who ignore the new restrictions, with the revenue raised redirected to fund further enforcement.
“This has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040,” the government said when it unveiled the plan, calling the move “historic”.
Smoking is the UK’s biggest preventable killer. According to official figures the habit causes about one in four deaths from cancer and leads to 64,000 deaths in England per year.
Conservative MPs were given a free vote on the Bill, meaning those who voted against the UK government’s position will not face punishment.
This allowed serving ministers, including Business Secretary and future Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch, to publicly reveal they would vote to reject the Bill.
The dissent among high-profile Tories highlights discontent with Sunak’s leadership and posturing as his party languishes in the polls ahead of the upcoming general election.
“The principle of equality under the law is a fundamental one. It underpins many of my personal beliefs,” Badenoch wrote on X ahead of the vote.
She added: “We should not treat legally competent adults differently in this way, where people born a day apart will have permanently different rights.”
Another potential contender to run for the Tory leadership, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, also came out against the policy.
They were joined by Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who said she hoped MPs could “make amendments which will make it law which will be more likely to actually deter young smokers without removing freedom of choice for adults”.
The intervention by serving ministers comes after several senior Tories, including former prime minister Liz Truss, said they would not back the Bill due to concerns about freedom of personal choice.
The division list showed 57 Conservative MPs voted against giving the Tobacco and Vapes Bill a second reading, while 178 voted to support it.
Several serving ministers also voted against, including Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart, Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker, culture minister Julia Lopez and communities minister Lee Rowley.
Measures in the Bill would constitute some of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the world.
The plans are believed to have been inspired by a sweeping crackdown planned by New Zealand’s previous government.
However, the county’s new government has moved to repeal the law after winning power in October 2023, saying it would help fund tax cuts.
Countries with notable restrictions on smoking include Mexico, which has smoking bans at beaches, parks and some homes.
Portugal is aiming to become smoke-free by 2040, with plans to ban the sale of tobacco products in bars and cafes.
Meanwhile, Canada became the first country to require health warnings to be printed on individual cigarettes.
More than one quarter of the world’s population are covered by smoking bans in public spaces, according to the World Health Organisation.
Of the 74 countries with smoke-free policies, Ireland was the first to ban smoking in all indoor workplaces in 2004.
Includes reporting by Press Association and AFP
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