The legal age for buying tobacco should rise every year to stop youngsters taking up smoking, the Prime Minister has said as he also pledged to crack down on the sale of disposable vapes to children.
Rishi Sunak said more must be done to “try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place” as he set out plans to introduce a new law banning tobacco sales to anybody born on or after January 1 2009.
He told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester that “a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette”, under new legislation for England.
Mr Sunak also said more must be done to “restrict the availability” of vapes to children.
“If we are to do the right thing for our kids, we must try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place,” he said.
“Because without a significant change thousands of children will start smoking in the coming years and have their lives cut short as a result.”
He added: “I propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year every year.
“That means a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke free.”
Mr Sunak added: “People take up cigarettes when they’re young – four in five smokers have started by the time they’re 20.
“Later the vast majority try to quit. But many fail because they’re addicted and they wish they had never taken up the habit in the first place.
“And if we could break that cycle, if we could stop the start, then we would be on our way to ending the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in our country.”
He said the vote on the proposal in Parliament will be a “free vote” and it is a “matter of conscience” for MPs.
Downing Street could not specify when a free vote on the crackdown on buying cigarettes will be held, but the Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “Rishi Sunak is a man in a hurry.”
Our analysis has revealed that the most deprived communities in England won’t be smokefree until after 2050. 20 years behind the Government’s 2030 smokefree target for England. Read more on why the UK Government needs to make a #SmokefreeUK a priority ⬇ https://t.co/xuD90ymDXm
— Cancer Research UK (@CR_UK) September 28, 2023
Downing Street said it expects that the plans will mean up to 1.7 million fewer people smoking by 2075.
On vapes, the Prime Minister said: “As any parent or teacher knows, one of the most worrying trends right now is the rise in vaping amongst children – one in five children have used vapes.
“We must act before it becomes endemic.
“So we will also bring forward measures to restrict the availability of vapes to our children, looking at flavours, packaging displays and disposable vapes.”
Number 10 said the consultation on vaping will examine restricting the flavours and descriptions of vapes so that vape flavours are no longer targeted at children; regulating sale displays of vapes; regulating packaging; and restricting the sale of disposable vapes.
Ministers have faced repeated calls to ban the use of disposable vapes to help protect children and reduce the significant environmental impact of the single-use products.
“Disposable vapes are an inherently unsustainable product, meaning an outright ban remains the most effective solution to this problem,” said David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board.
In 2019, the Government set out an ambition for England to be smoke free by 2030.
It commissioned a review, published last June and led by Dr Javed Khan, which made a series of recommendations, including increasing the legal age for buying tobacco.
Review into Smokefree 2030. https://t.co/WNSn0uJREH My 15 recommendations identify a holistic response to #makingsmokingobsolete. However, I have identified 4 without which the government will not meet Smokefree 2030. #khanreview
— Javed Khan OBE (@JavedKhanCEO) June 9, 2022
He recommended that the age of sale should increase from 18, by one year every year, until no-one can buy a tobacco product.
Around one third of adult tobacco consumption is by people with a current mental health condition and they are twice as likely to smoke as the general population.
Smoking causes around one in five cancer cases and more than one in four cancer deaths each year in the UK.
Almost six million people in England still smoke.
Dr Khan put the annual cost to society of smoking at around £17 billion, with a cost of £2.4 billion each year to the NHS alone.
Commenting on Mr Sunak’s announcement, Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said: “Smoking damages many lives. It causes stillbirths, asthma in children, heart disease, stroke and dementia in addition to causing most lung cancer and increasing risk of many other cancers.
“Becoming addicted to cigarettes in early life is one of the worst things that can happen for future health.
“Preventing people becoming addicted to smoking and helping those who smoke to quit are two of the most important measures we can take to improve health.”
Cancer Research UK’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “Raising the age of sale on tobacco products is a critical step on the road to creating the first ever smoke-free generation.”
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “The Prime Minister has today announced an unprecedented set of measures to protect the next generation and hasten the day when smoking is obsolete.
“We look forward to the day when smoking is no longer responsible for avoidable ill health and perinatal mortality in babies and young children, nor the leading cause of premature death in adults.”
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive at Asthma and Lung UK, said: “Today’s announcement for the UK to ban cigarettes for the next generation by gradually increasing the smoking age is an incredibly positive step forward, which will protect the next generation from developing lung conditions caused by this deadly addiction.”
But Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, said: “Raising the age of sale of tobacco is creeping prohibition, but it won’t stop young people smoking because prohibition doesn’t work.
“Anyone who wants to smoke will buy tobacco abroad or from illicit sources.
“Future generations of adults who are considered old enough to vote, pay taxes, drive a car and drink alcohol are going to be treated like children and denied the right to buy a product that can be purchased legally by people a year older than them.”
Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, added: “Banning flavours risks pushing vapers back to smoking or to the black market, and banning disposable vapes will prevent many smokers from trying vaping to quit.”