UK Parliament Passes Smoking Ban for People Born After 2008
Anyone born on or after 1st January 2009 will face a permanent ban on buying cigarettes for the rest of their lives, after the Tobacco and Vapes Bill cleared Parliament on Monday.
Both the Commons and Lords have agreed on a final text of the legislation, which will now proceed to royal assent. The bill aims to prevent today's under-18s from ever taking up smoking, creating what the government is calling a "smoke-free generation." Once the bill is passed, ministers will also gain new powers to regulate tobacco, vaping and nicotine products, including regulating their flavours and packaging.
The bill also expands smoke-free rules to ban vaping in cars carrying children, in playgrounds, outside schools and at hospitals. Vaping outside hospitals will still be permitted, however, to support people trying to quit. Pub gardens, beaches and private outdoor spaces are not covered by the ban, and people will continue to be able to smoke and vape at home.
Health minister Baroness Merron told the Lords: "This afternoon marks the end of this Bill's journey throughout Parliament. It is a landmark Bill, it will create a smoke-free generation. It is, in fact, the biggest public health intervention in a generation and I can assure all noble Lords it will save lives."
Not everyone has welcomed the bill. Conservative former MP Lord Naseby said it "does upset a great many people in that industry," pointing to the concerns of retailers. He argued that "what we really need is a proper understanding of how we educate people not to take up smoking." Baroness Merron responded by saying the government had worked "closely" with retailers throughout the process and would "continue to do so."
Smoking is one of the UK's leading causes of preventable death and ill health.
