Speaking at Conservative Party Conference, Prime Minister says new ban is the ‘right thing for our kids’
Half the UK population will be effectively banned from smoking within three decades, under plans announced by the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
Rishi Sunak said his proposal to stop anyone under the age of 14 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes is “the right thing for our kids”.
Under the plans, the legal age of purchase for cigarettes will rise annually from the age of 18 to long beyond pension age, in a bid to make smoking obsolete.
The radical move provoked an immediate backlash, with Liz Truss, the former prime minister, among those set to vote against the move, when it goes to a free vote in the Commons. Those aged 14 and under will never be able to legally buy cigarettes, under the plan to introduce the kind of ban which has just been introduced in New Zealand.