- Written by Kate Whannell & Sam Francis
- Political reporter, BBC News
image source, Getty Images
Lawmakers have backed a plan to ban people born after 2009 from purchasing cigarettes, effectively guaranteeing it will become law.
The measure, backed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, survived despite opposition from several key figures in the Conservative Party, including two former prime ministers.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs: “There is no freedom in addiction” as she defended the plan.
The tobacco vape bill passed by a vote of 383 to 67.
If passed into law, the UK will have some of the strictest smoking laws in the world.
The UK's approach is believed to have been inspired by a similar law in New Zealand, which was later repealed after a change of government.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Atkins said the plan would create a “smoking-free generation”.
However, several Conservative MPs, including former Prime Minister Liz Truss, voted against the bill, saying it would restrict personal freedoms.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson called smoking cessation “absolute madness” in a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Ottawa, Canada, last week.
“If Winston Churchill's party is trying to ban cigars, as they say in Quebec, that's pure madness,” he said.
Read more about smoking cessation
Conservative MPs have been given a free vote on the bill, meaning they are not ordered to vote in favor of the government. However, full support from Labour's front bench ensured the bill passed.
The bill still needs a few more steps, including a vote in the House of Lords, but it could be passed before a general election, expected in late 2024.
Labour's shadow health and social affairs secretary, Wes Streeting, accused Mr Sunak of “putting the bill in jeopardy” by allowing a free vote “because it was too weak to stand up to the party's Liz Truss faction”. did.
“If we were privileged enough to form the next government, Labor would enforce this ban. That's why today's young people are even less likely to smoke than to vote Conservative. “Deaf,” he added.
A total of 57 Conservative MPs voted against the bill, including Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Conservative Party Vice-Chairman Jonathan Garris.
Foreign Office Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan also expressed her opposition, but ultimately abstained from voting.
Former Conservative Party deputy leader Lee Anderson, who defected to Reform UK last month, also voted against the bill.
Mr Sunak unveiled plans to ban people born after January 1, 2009 from purchasing tobacco products in a conference speech last October.
Tuesday's debate was the first opportunity for lawmakers to discuss legislation that would implement the ban.
Ms Truss was one of the first to oppose the bill, telling the House of Commons that it risked infantilizing the public.
“It's really important that we protect people until they develop decision-making skills as they grow up, but I think the very idea that we can protect adults from ourselves is deeply problematic.” I think so.”
Her concerns were echoed by some of her fellow Conservative MPs.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who was rumored to be a potential candidate for the Conservative leadership, also opposed the policy.
He said on social media that he opposed the bill because he “believes in individual freedom.”
“I also believe in the principle of equality before the law. The gradual smoking ban is an affront to that,” he added.
Former minister Sir Jake Berry said he was more concerned about “an addiction where the government tells people what to do” than about people addicted to nicotine.
“I want to live in a free society where people are free to make good and bad decisions.''
Atkins said he understood their concerns about “banning things” but defended the bill, arguing that “nicotine takes away people's freedom of choice.”
“The majority of smokers started smoking at a young age, and three-quarters said they would not have started smoking if they could turn back the clock.”
Earlier, Britain's Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty said that once people become addicted to smoking, “their choice is taken away”.
He said: “When I was a junior surgeon, I saw people who had had to have their legs amputated because they had damaged their arteries from smoking, crying outside the hospital with a light shining on them. I remember the tragedy,” he said. By addiction – it's not a choice. ”
Tobacco use is the biggest preventable cause of death in the UK, killing two thirds of long-term smokers and accounting for 80,000 deaths each year.
On top of that, almost every minute someone is admitted to hospital in the UK with a smoking-related condition such as heart disease, stroke or lung cancer.
The bill also aims to make e-cigarettes less appealing to children with new restrictions on flavors and packaging.
Trading standards officers will also gain new powers to impose on-the-spot £100 fines on shops selling tobacco and e-cigarettes to children, with all funds raised going towards further enforcement. .
Figures show one in five children have tried e-cigarettes despite being illegal for under-18s, while the number of children using e-cigarettes has tripled in the past three years Became.
