Rishi Sunak considering banning cigarettes for next generation – reports
Rishi Sunak is considering a recommendation that would effectively ban cigarettes for the next generation.
The prime minister could introduce some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking measures by steadily increasing the legal age for consuming tobacco, according to The Guardian, citing Whitehall sources.
The paper said it also understood Mr Sunak’s leadership pledge to fine people £10 for missing a GP or hospital appointment could be under consideration once more.
Downing Street did not deny Mr Sunak was considering adopting a more stringent approach to smoking.
Last year a major review led by Dr Javed Khan backed England following New Zealand’s plan to impose a gradually rising smoking age to prevent tobacco being sold to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
Dr Khan recommended “increasing the age of sale from 18, by one year, every year until no one can buy a tobacco product in this country”.
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Could single-use vapes be banned by 2024?
If implemented by 2026, it would mean anyone aged 15 and under now would never be able to buy a cigarette.
However, health minister Neil O’Brien appeared to reject adopting that approach in April, when he said the government’s policy for achieving a smoke-free nation by its 2030 target would focus on “helping people to quit” rather than applying bans.
But it is now understood Mr Sunak is looking at different policy advice on how to reach England’s smoke-free target.
In his government-commissioned report published in June 2022, Dr Khan said without urgent action England would miss the 2030 target by at least seven years, with the poorest areas not meeting it until 2044.
He put the annual cost to society of smoking at about £17bn – £2.4bn to the NHS alone.
Read more:
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Starmer insists UK will not be a ‘rule-taker’ after backlash over stance on EU
‘Smoking is a deadly habit’ – government
A government spokesperson said: “Smoking is a deadly habit – it kills tens of thousands of people each year and places a huge burden on the NHS and the economy.
“We want to encourage more people to quit and meet our ambition to be smoke free by 2030, which is why we have already taken steps to reduce smoking rates.
“This includes providing one million smokers in England with free vape kits via our world first ‘swap to stop’ scheme, launching a voucher scheme to incentivise pregnant women to quit and consulting on mandatory cigarette pack inserts.”
The legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products in England and Wales is 18, having been raised from 16 in 2007 by the previous Labour government.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest document on its examination priorities for 2026 has noticeably omitted its regular section on crypto, seemingly in line with US President Donald Trump’s embrace of the industry.
On Monday, the SEC’s Division of Examinations released its examination priorities for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2026, which made no specific mention of crypto or digital assets.
However, the SEC said that its stated priorities are not “an exhaustive list of all the areas the Division will focus on in the upcoming year.”
The US crypto industry has boomed under Trump, who has largely worked to deregulate the sector while his family has expanded their footprint into crypto with a trading platform, mining business, stablecoin and token.
“Examinations are an important component to accomplishing the agency’s mission, but they should not be a ’gotcha’ exercise,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a statement.
“Today’s release of examination priorities should enable firms to prepare to have a constructive dialogue with SEC examiners and provide transparency into the priorities of the agency’s most public-facing division,” he added.
The Division of Examinations is responsible for probing organizations, including investment advisers, broker-dealers, clearing agencies, and stock exchanges, for compliance with federal securities laws.
Related: Crypto oversight by CFTC over SEC is ‘directionally correct’ — Jeff Park
Last year, under outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the Division said it would focus on the “offer, sale, recommendation, advice, trading, and other activities involving crypto assets,” explicitly naming spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds as a priority.
“Given the volatility and activity involving the crypto asset markets, the Division will continue to monitor and, when appropriate, conduct examinations of registrants offering crypto asset-related services,” the Division said last year.
The examination division also wrote a section dedicated to crypto assets and emerging financial technology in 2023.
In its latest priorities list, the SEC said it was focusing on “core areas,” including fiduciary duty, custody and customer information protection.
The SEC said in its report that it will focus on “the risks associated with the use of emerging technologies,” and made particular mention of artificial intelligence and automated investment tools.
A section of the agency’s report outlines that it will also give “particular attention” to firms’ ability to react and recover from cyber incidents, “including those related to ransomware attacks.”
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
Politics
Home secretary admits illegal immigration numbers still ‘too high’ under Labour – but says Farage can ‘sod off’
The home secretary has admitted the UK’s illegal immigrant numbers are “too high” – but said Nigel Farage can “sod off” after he claimed she sounded like a Reform supporter.
Shabana Mahmood, speaking just after announcing a major policy change on migration, said she was “horrified” by the 27% increase of irregular arrivals in the year to June.
Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, the home secretary said: “I acknowledge the numbers are too high, and they’ve gone up, and I want to bring them down.
“I’m impatient to bring those numbers down.”
She refused to “set arbitrary numbers” on how much she wanted to bring illegal migration down to.
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Beth Rigby: The two big problems with Labour’s asylum plan
Earlier on Monday, Ms Mahmood announced a new direction in Labour’s plan to crack down on asylum seekers.
The “restoring order and control” plan includes:
• The removal of more families with children – either voluntarily through cash incentives up to £3,000, or by force;
• Quadrupling the time successful asylum seekers must wait to claim permanent residency in the UK, from five years to 20;
• Removing the legal obligation to provide financial support to asylum seekers, so those with the right to work but choose not to will receive no support;
• Setting up a new appeals body to significantly speed up the time it takes to decide whether to refuse an asylum application;
• Reforming how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is interpreted in immigration cases;
• Banning visas for countries refusing to accept deportees;
• And the establishment of new safe and legal refugee routes.
Read more: Everything you need to know about Labour’s plans
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the plan was much like something his party would put forward, and said Ms Mahmood sounded like a Reform supporter.
The home secretary responded with her usual frankness, telling Rigby: “Nigel Farage can sod off. I’m not interested in anything he’s got to say.
“He’s making mischief. So I’m not going to let him live forever in my head.”
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Home secretary announces details on asylum reform
You might need our support, says Badenoch
Her plans have also been tentatively welcomed by the Conservatives, with Kemi Badenoch suggesting the home secretary work with her in case of a rebellion by Labour MPs.
The backing of Tory MPs could “come in handy”, Ms Badenoch said.
The government’s attempts to cut the welfare bill earlier this year were thwarted by its own backbenchers, and the proposals announced on Monday have already attracted backlash from some on the left of the Labour Party.
Nadia Whittome MP called Ms Mahmood’s plans “dystopian” and “shameful”, while Richard Burgon MP said she should change course now rather than be forced into a U-turn later.
Read more:
How the UK and Denmark’s immigration policies compare
Nigel Farage said the home secretary was sounding like a Reform supporter
Mahmood’s warning to Labour MPs
But Ms Mahmood has warned her colleagues that disrupting her bid to reform the asylum system – thus hoping to bring down the number of small boat crossings – risks “dark forces” coming to prominence.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday evening, Ms Mahmood said: “If we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred.”
She later told Beth Rigby that Reform wanted to “rip up” indefinite leave to remain altogether, which she called “immoral” and “deeply shameful”.
The home secretary, who is a practising Muslim, was born in Birmingham to her Pakistani parents.
Earlier, in the House of Commons, she said she sees the division that migration and the asylum system are creating across the country. She told MPs she regularly endures racial slurs.
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