Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban risks making it cool again, Tory MP claims

Rishi Sunak’s plans to stop young people from ever smoking risk making smoking cooler, a Tory MP has warned.

If passed, the tobacco and vapes bill would prevent anyone who turns 15 this year, or younger, from ever being able to legally buy tobacco products in England. It will be debated in parliament for the first time on Tuesday.

But Conservative MP Simon Clarke said he is “both sceptical and downright opposed” to the plans, claiming they could help create a black market.

He said: “There are good ways to tackle a problem like this and then there are bad ways, and I think that an outright ban risks being counterproductive.

“I think it actually risks making smoking cooler, it certainly risks creating a black market, and it also risks creating a unmanageable challenge for the authorities.”

Sir Simon said education and the tax system should be used as tools to deter people from smoking.

Asked about opinion polls which show that two-thirds of people in Britain back a phased smoking ban – a figure which extends to 70 per cent among those who voted Conservative in 2019, Sir Simon said: “There are some things, of course, which are not necessarily philosophically or practically right which would command support in the opinion polls.

“I think probably if you were to do an opinion poll on bringing back hanging you’d find that there was a significant proportion of people who backed it, that wouldn’t necessarily mean it was the right thing to do.”

Former prime minister Boris Johnson also described the plans last week as “nuts”.

Smoking kills about 80,000 people a year and costs the NHS and the economy an estimated £17 billion annually.

It came as England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty blasted the tobacco industry as being the “one gainer from the death and disease induced by their products”.

Writing in the Guardian, he said: “Their talking points, usually introduced by paid lobbyists, need to be addressed head on. They try to link their products to ‘choice’ despite the fact their sales are based on addiction (taking choice away).

“They always claim illegal cigarette sales will go up with new control measures, despite the evidence that they actually go down (due to reduced demand).”

The PM also pledged to crack down on the sale of disposable vapes to children, saying more must be done to restrict their availability to under-18s.

“If you are legally an adult, it’s ageist if you are denied the same rights as adults who may be only a year or two older than you are,” said pro-smoking pressure group Forest’s director, Simon Clark. He referred to a poll that suggested 64% of the public think if you can join the army you should be able to buy cigarettes.

But victims and safeguarding minister Laura Farris admitted she started smoking aged just 12 calling it the “biggest regret” of her life.

She told LBC: “Smoking is still responsible for one in four of all deaths. It is the number one preventable cause of death in this country. And it costs the NHS £17 billion pounds a year… I started smoking when I was 12”

“I had a friend with an older sibling. And it just, you know, and it took me years and years and years to quit. It’s one of my biggest regrets.. I’m not particularly interested in arguments about freedom on this one.”

Currently, you must be 18 or older to buy and use a vape in the UK. There are no nationwide legal restrictions or laws enforced on vaping in public areas at present, and the use of them indoors is generally permitted unless an establishment has specifically imposed a ban.

The reforms involve steadily increasing the legal smoking age, making it illegal for the next generation to ever buy cigarettes.

Although exact plans are unclear, it is expected that the UK would also ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco to anyone born after a certain date, raising the legal age for smoking every year. If the UK implemented the rules by 2027, anyone aged 14 and under now will never be able to buy a cigarette.

Mr Sunak told the Conservative Party conference last year that the ban would not take away the right to smoke from current smokers and that a parliament vote on the measure would be a “matter of conscience” with no party whip implemented.