The UK parliament will on Tuesday begin sitting on a bill introduced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak aimed at enacting a law that will prevent young people from ever smoking,
The law seeks to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009-effectively raising the smoking age by a year, every year, until everyone falls within the bracket.
The government claims that this unprecedented move “has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040”.
Introducing the bill last month, Sunak said “If we want to build a better future for our children, we need to tackle the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability and death: smoking.
However, while the Tobacco and Vapes Bill appears to enjoy support from opposition parties, the Prime Minister, ironically faces resistance from many in his own fractured Conservative Party.
Conservative MP Simon Clarke says that he was “both sceptical and downright opposed” to the plans.
“I think that an outright ban risks being counterproductive, I think it risks making smoking cooler. It certainly risks creating a black market, and it also risks creating an unmanageable challenge for the authorities,” he added.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said it was “mad” that the party of Winston Churchill was “banning cigars”.
However, opinion polls show that most people in the UK are in support of the phased smoking ban.