MPs back plans for phased smoking ban

MPs have backed plans to make it illegal for anyone currently aged 15 or younger to ever buy cigarettes in the UK.

The idea was originally proposed by Rishi Sunak's Conservative government but was taken forward by Labour after previous legislation ran out of time to pass before July's general election.

The new Tobacco and Vapes bill passed its first Commons hurdle comfortably by 415 votes to 47.

However, some Tory and Lib Dem MPs raised concerns about the impact on civil liberties.

The bill will face further scrutiny from MPs and peers but is likely to become law.

Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs were given a free vote, meaning they did not have to follow a party line.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman were among 35 Tories who voted against the bill, while 23 supported it.

Seven Liberal Democrats and four Reform UK MPs also opposed the legislation.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said gradually increasing the age people can buy tobacco would create "the first smoke-free generation and eventually a smoke-free nation".

He told the Commons the measures in the bill, which also include steps to tackle youth vaping, "add up to the most significant public health intervention in a generation".

Streeting argued the bill would help shift the focus of healthcare "from treatment to prevention" and reduce pressures on the NHS.

"Smokers are more likely to need NHS services, be admitted to hospital, drop out of the workforce and on to welfare, and need social care years earlier than if they didn’t smoke," he added.

Tory shadow health secretary Edward Argar said the government's bill "started from a place of good intentions" and he supported the objectives of easing pressures on the NHS and preventing children taking up addictive habits.

However, he raised concerns about new powers for ministers to make it illegal to smoke in specific outdoor spaces, which were not in the previous bill proposed by the Conservatives.

Earlier this month the government confirmed it had dropped plans to ban smoking in pub and restaurant gardens in England, following fears about the impact on the hospitality industry.

But it is still considering banning smoking outside schools, hospitals and in children's playgrounds, subject to consultation.

Argar said he was concerned a ban could be expanded to more outdoor spaces in the future.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan, who voted for the bill, said her party was "100% supportive" of measures to tackle youth vaping in the legislation.

However, she said a phased smoking ban was "problematic" and "raises issues of practicality" and "civil liberties".

She warned it raised the prospect that people who chose to start smoking would potentially have to carry an ID card for the rest of their lives, something she "strongly opposed" due to "issues of privacy and personal liberty".

Meanwhile, Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell argued "banning things very rarely works", adding: "Surely we should be promoting the concept of freedom with responsibility and allowing people to make choices about their own lives?"

Defending the plans, Streeting said tobacco was "uniquely addictive" and harmful.

"There is no freedom in addiction," he told MPs.

The legislation also includes a ban on vape advertising and sponsorship, as well as powers to restrict the flavours and packaging of vapes in an attempt to reduce their appeal to children.

Streeting said: "This bill will come down on the vaping industry like a ton of bricks to prevent a new generation of children and young people from getting hooked on nicotine."