British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Proposes Law To Eliminate Smoking In The U.K.

While attending his first state opening of Parliament, King Charles III announced British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s plan to ban smoking in the United Kingdom, albeit through a step-by-step process.

The legislation would increase the legal smoking age by one year every year from now on. British citizens born after January 1, 2009 – 14 years old or younger – would not be allowed to purchase cigarettes or any other tobacco products for the rest of their lives.

“My Government will introduce legislation to create a smoke-free generation by restricting the sale of tobacco so that children currently aged fourteen or younger can never be sold cigarettes, and restricting the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to children,” Charles declared during his speech to parliament.

The prime minister first presented ideas to cease the selling of tobacco products, such as single-use vapes, to the forthcoming generation during the 2023 Conservative Party conference in Manchester.

He said that “four in five smokers have started by the time they’re 20, 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.”

“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,” he added. “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.”

The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported that 12.9% of people in the United Kingdom aged 18 years and older, or about 6.4 million people, smoked cigarettes back in 2022.

According to Sunak, his plan to ban smoking would not affect current smokers in the country, though it would help prevent 25% of cancer-related deaths and improve the finances of the public health service.

Many members of parliament are preparing to vote against this bill, however.

The former British prime minister, Liz Truss, opposed the current prime minister’s proposal in early November.