UK parliament to debate world's first 'smoke-free generation' bill

A new UK-wide law aimed at creating the first "smoke-free generation" was on Tuesday, Nov. 5 introduced in parliament, as part of a world-leading ban.

The proposals come after New Zealand revoked plans to introduce a so-called "generational smoking ban" that would have stopped sales of tobacco to anyone born after 2008.

"This is a groundbreaking piece of public health legislation. It will mean that we are creating the first ever smoke-free generation in our country," Health Secretary Wes Streeting said.

"So children growing up in our country today will never, never legally be able to buy cigarettes," he added.

The UK's Tobacco and Vapes Bill will prevent anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought.

The legislation is similar to a bill proposed by the last Conservative administration, which was shelved earlier this year when then-prime minister Rishi Sunak called a general election.

Sunak's successor Keir Starmer's new Labour government, however, has revived the proposals, which are part of a drive to increase preventative health measures and ease long-term pressure on the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS).

The bill will introduce restrictions on vape advertising and sponsorship, as well as restricting flavours, displays and the packaging of e-cigarettes to reduce their appeal to children and young people.

It also proposed a ban on the manufacture and sale of the oral tobacco snus, in line with European Union countries other than Sweden.

Last month the government announced that disposable vapes will be banned next year under separate legislation.

Outdoor spaces

New Zealand, last November, announced it would bin its own proposed anti-smoking legislation.

Under a law that had been due to come into force later that year, anyone born after 2008 would have been prevented from buying tobacco.

The back pedalling came after new premier Christopher Luxon took the helm as head of a new coalition government and said he would prioritize tackling inflation and lowering interest rates.

The new UK bill also proposes extending existing smoking bans to outdoor spaces such as children's playgrounds and outside hospitals.

But Streeting said there would be no ban on smoking in pub gardens in England.

Pub and restaurant industry figures criticized the idea after it was leaked in August, arguing it could deter customers in a market already struggling with the long-term fallout from the pandemic and cost-of-living pressures.

"The UK hospitality sector has taken a battering in recent years, and we don't want to add to their pressure so we're not proposing to go ahead with an outdoor hospitality ban at this time," Streeting added.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland outlawed smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces in 2007 following a similar ban in Scotland in 2006. 

Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive at Action on Smoking (Ash), welcomed the bill as a "world-leading piece of legislation."

"It opens up an important debate about smoking and how long we are prepared to tolerate the incredible harms it does to our society," she said.

Smoking had "taken more than eight million lives in the UK" over the past 50 years, she added. (AFP)