Achi news desk-
The British government’s plan for a landmark smoking ban aimed at preventing young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.
The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009. If passed, the bill will put some of the measures toughest anti-smoking in the world for Britain. Authorities say it will create “the first smoke-free generation of modern Britain.”
Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, children who turn 15 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco. Once implemented — officials are aiming for 2027 — the legal selling age at which people in England can buy cigarettes will be raised by one year, each year until it is eventually illegal for the entire population.
The bill also includes measures to tackle youth vaping, such as banning the sale of cheap disposable vapes and limiting their flavors to prevent children becoming addicted to nicotine.
It is currently illegal for anyone to sell cigarettes or tobacco products and vapes to people under the age of 18 across the UK
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Lawmakers voted 383 to 67 to give the bill a second reading late Tuesday after an afternoon of debate. Although the bill was widely praised by health experts and supported by the opposition Labor Party, Sunak faced a backlash from more liberal members of his party, who criticized the proposals as “irreconservative.”
Conservative lawmakers were given a free vote, meaning they could vote with their personal conscience rather than following the official party line.
Opponents, such as smokers’ rights lobby group FOREST, said the move risks creating a black market and will “treat future generations of adults like children.” Prominent voices within the Conservative Party, including two of Sunak’s predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said the plans went against conservative values ​​by restricting people’s personal freedoms.
The bill was “a token piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future,” Truss told the Senate during Tuesday’s debate.
Other high-profile Tories, including business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a Cabinet minister, also opposed the measure.
The plans were believed to be inspired by similar policies proposed by New Zealand under former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, but the country’s new coalition government scrapped the measure earlier this year.
The government said smoking will not be criminalised, and the gradual changes mean that anyone who can legally buy cigarettes now will not be prevented from doing so in the future.
The number of people who smoke in the UK has fallen by two-thirds since the 1970s, but some 6.4 million people in the country – or around 13% of the population – still smoke, according to figures official.
Authorities say smoking causes around 80,000 deaths a year in the UK, and remains the leading cause of preventable death, disability and ill health.
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
