Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to gradually ban smoking in Great Britain. Headwind comes from his own party.
The minimum age for smoking would de facto be raised by one year every year until the entire population is affected in the long term. A total of 57 MPs from Sunak's Conservative Party voted against it, including former Prime Minister Liz Truss. But there are deep divisions in the ruling party; many members are against the smoking ban. The law cleared the first hurdle in the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday, with a majority of383 votes to 67 voted for a second reading. It can be used to guarantee that all children and young people born after January 1, 2009 "can never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke-free." The same applies to future generations. Only today's young people should remain non-smokers for the rest of their lives. The government assures that smoking should not be criminalized.