Sunak pledges to progressively raise tobacco age limit; announces consultation on youth vaping

Prime minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday vowed to introduce legislation to reduce tobacco use saying there was “no safe level of smoking”.

“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,” Sunak told his Conservative Party’s annual conference in a keynote address.

His proposal would make it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products – effectively raising the smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population, a statement by Sunak’s Downing Street office said.

“This has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040,” it added, calling the move “historic”.

Similar policies are already in place in New Zealand. The prime minister stated that the vote will be a free vote and not one that is subject to a government whip.

The statement said the government also planned to bring in measures to restrict young people vaping.

This could include restricting disposable vapes and regulating flavours and packaging to reduce their appeal to children, Downing Street added.

The consultation will look at:

• Restricting the flavours and descriptions of vapes so that vape flavours are no longer targeted at children – we want to ensure this is done in a way that continues to support adult smokers to switch.
• Regulating point of sale displays in retail outlets so that vapes are kept out of sight from children and away from products that appeal to them, such as sweets.
• Regulating vape packaging and product presentation, ensuring that neither the device nor its packaging is targeted to children.
• Restricting the sale of disposable vapes, which are clearly linked to the rise in vaping in children.

Enforcement activity will also be strengthened, with an investment of £30 million to support agencies such as local trading standards, HMRC and Border Force to take action to stop underage sales and tackle the import of illicit tobacco and vaping products at the border.

The APPG on Smoking and Health welcomed Sunak’s announcement on smoking.

“We congratulate the prime minister for sending a clear message in his speech today that this government is determined to live up to its smokefree ambition,” Bob Blackman MP, chair of the APPG, said.

“The recommendations set out in the Khan independent review on smoking have been taken on board, and there will be immediate benefits to smokers, to the NHS, to social care and to public finances. We look forward to seeing his words turned into action, with commitments in the King’s speech in November to legislation in the forthcoming parliamentary session.”

Responding to the proposed tobacco legislation, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) highlighted the convenience sector’s strong record on age restricted sales.

“We will work with the government on how this policy will be implemented and enforced. Our sector has a proud record on preventing under age purchases, and we will continue to provide the advice members need to comply with whatever age restriction policy parliament decides on,” ACS chief executive James Lowman said.

Lowman welcomed ‘further consultation’ on vaping products, “[We] hope the government will look carefully at increasing funding for enforcement activity to prevent underage sales and stamp out the sale of illegal vapes,” he added.