UK moves one step closer to becoming smoke-free as Tobacco and Vapes Bill wins overwhelming support
The majority of MPs (413) voted in favour of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill during its second reading on Tuesday, 26 November, while only 46 MPs opposed it.
Wes Streeting presented the bill to parliament, describing it as “a giant leap in this government’s mission to build a healthy society and a healthier economy.”
Emphasising the need for the bill, Streeting said: Smoking takes 80,000 lives a year and causes one in four deaths from cancer in England, a hospital admission almost every minute and 100 GP appointments an hour. It is the leading cause of sickness, disability and death in our country.”
He explained that the bill would raise the legal age of the purchase of tobacco by one year every year, creating the first smokefree generation and, eventually, a smokefree nation.
It will enable the government to “extend the current indoor smoking ban to certain outdoor settings” Streeting said, adding that they will consult on “banning smoking outside schools and hospitals and in playgrounds” to protect children and vulnerable people from the harms of second-hand smoke.
Streeting further stated that the bill would 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.
“Taken together, these measures add up to the most significant public health intervention in a generation,” he added.
Streeting paid tribute to the former prime minister Rishi Sunak for “picking up the proposal and running with it despite opposition from his own party.”
He stated: “While we have taken steps to improve this bill compared with the one put forward by the previous government, I hope that hon. and right hon. members on the conservative benches will follow his lead.”
Layla Moran, chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, questioned the thinking behind an age escalator, as opposed to a ban for those under a particular age so that people do not need new ID every time.
The health secretary answered: “I recognise that there are people who have the freedom and the liberty to smoke today, the vast majority of whom, by the way, want to stop and struggle to do so. That is why we are announcing support to enable people to do that, with £70 million of investment in smoking cessation services.”
“That is important, but for a future where people are no longer able to smoke, a phased approach is the right thing to do. It is also essential for the health of the individual, the nation, and our economy.”
Streeting noted that the country’s productivity has dropped by £25 billion since 2018 due to worsening health alone, with smoking alone accounting for more than £18 billion of that loss.
“If we do not act now, ever-increasing demands for healthcare threaten to overwhelm and bankrupt the NHS. That is the choice that we face,” he added.
Addressing the arguments about denying individuals the choice to smoke, Streeting highlighted that three quarters of smokers want to stop and wish they had never started, and that “it takes a smoker an average of 30 attempts to quit before they manage it.”
“By definition, an addict is not free; there is no choice, no liberty and no freedom in addiction. Nor is choice afforded to anyone inhaling second-hand smoke.
“Tobacco is not only highly addictive but uniquely harmful,” he added.
To help smokers quit, the government is investing £70 million in smoking cessation services.
“But prevention is better than cure, and that is why we are taking action, through the Bill, to stop the start,” Streeting noted.
The health secretary concluded: “This Bill marks the start of a decade in which we will shift the focus of healthcare from treatment to prevention; take serious action on not just smoking, but obesity; reform the NHS, so that it catches problems earlier and gives patients the tools that they need to stay out of hospital; harness the revolution taking place in life sciences; and fundamentally transform the NHS, so that it predicts illness and prevents it from ever taking hold.”
He believes that taking the measures outlined in the bill will steer the UK toward becoming smokefree, building a healthier, wealthier nation with a health service fit for the future, while positioning the UK as a global leader in this effort.
