Sunak proposes raising smoking age every year to create ‘smoke-free’ generation
Rishi Sunak has pledged to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes in England by one year every year in a crackdown on smoking.
The prime minister said the proposed legislation would mean a “14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke-free”.
He said the changes will be subject to a vote in parliament but this will be a free vote, as was the ban on smoking in public places and raising the smoking age to 18.
Read more: See all the key points from Sunak’s conference speech
“There will be no government whip. It is a matter of conscience,” he said.
Addressing the annual Tory party conference today, Mr Sunak also promised to restrict the availability of vapes under plans to “put the next generation first”.
On smoking, he said it would not be fair “to take away the rights of anyone to smoke who currently does”.
However, he said more could be done to stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place.
“I propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year every year,” he told party delegates in Manchester.
“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.”
Read More:
Rishi Sunak confirms northern leg from Birmingham to Manchester will be scrapped
Sunak says nobody wants an election – the truth is he can’t risk one | Beth Rigby
He 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.”
Downing Street said it expects that the plans will mean up to 1.7 million fewer people smoking by 2075.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
How does vaping affect long-term health?
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.”
Ministers have faced repeated calls to ban vapes to help protect children and reduce the significant environmental impact of the single-use products.
The government set out an ambition in 2019 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.
He recommended that the age of sale should increase from 18, by one year every year, until no-one can buy a tobacco product.
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 £17bn, with a cost of £2.4bn each year to the NHS alone.
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.”
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.”
A woman who was stabbed to death in north London has been named by police – as a man was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Pamela Munro, 45, was found with a stab wound and died at the scene in Ayley Croft, Enfield, on Saturday evening, the Metropolitan Police said.
A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday and is in custody, the force added.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John said: “Investigating officers have worked relentlessly across the weekend to investigate the circumstances around Pamela’s death.
“We continue to support her family who are understandably devastated.”
Police at the scene at Ayley Croft in Enfield
Read more from Sky News:
Fresh appeal over student’s murder
100 firefighters battle flats blaze
The Met Police has asked anyone with information or who was driving through Ayley Court between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday and may have dashcam footage to contact the force.
A “British man” has died after being beaten and set on fire by a mob in Ecuador, according to reports by media in the South American country.
According to reports, the man – who has not been officially identified – had been detained by police after being accused of being involved in a fatal shooting.
Ecuadorian news outlet Ecuavisa reported that the man had been taken to a police station Playas del Cuyabeno, a remote village in the Amazon rainforest.
While there, a group broke into the station and took the man away. He was then set on fire in the street, it is reported, and died from his burns.
The incident reportedly happened in the Playas del Cuyabeno area of Sucumbios province
Another local report, from EXTRA.ec, said that specialist police units had been slow to arrive due to the geographical conditions of the area – which is accessible by river.
Read more from Sky News:
IDF finds ‘failings’ over attack on aid workers
Pope blesses Easter crowds from popemobile
According to reports, police officers at the station apparently decided they could not intervene when the mob arrived out of concerns for their own safety.
It is understood the UK Foreign Office is following up reports about the incident and working with local authorities to confirm the details.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway