Soon almost impossible

Anti-smoking law being discussed in the UK

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a strict policy against smokers (symbolic image).

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is currently planning a law that will make the legal purchase of cigarettes impossible in the long term. He plans to raise the minimum age from the current 18 years by a further year each year. However, Sunak is meeting with fierce resistance.

Dozens of Tory MPs could vote against the bill if it comes to a vote. Sunak's immediate predecessor in office, Liz Truss, spoke of an encroachment on the right to self-determination of adults. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is no longer a member of the House of Commons, considers it "absolutely crazy." The party of Winston Churchill, of all people, wants to ban cigarettes, he added. The Nobel Prize winner and former British Prime Minister was known to enjoy smoking cigarettes.

When I look at some of the things that we are doing now or that are being done in the name of conservatism, I think they are absolutely crazy.

Ex-Premierminister Boris Johnson

Anti-smoking campaigners warn that the tobacco lobby is working behind the scenes to weaken, delay or even defeat the plans. The Labour Party, the main opposition force in the UK, however, supports the bill.

E-cigarettes are to be restricted
The Conservative Prime Minister's aim is to ensure that no one who turns 15 this year or younger will ever be able to buy cigarettes legally. His party's draft also aims to make e-cigarettes less attractive to young people. Sweet flavors and gaudy packaging are to be restricted. Disposable e-cigarettes are to be banned as a matter of principle.

In the UK, around 80,000 people die every year as a result of smoking. The number of 11 to 17-year-olds who have tried so-called vapes has tripled to 20.5 percent in the past three years.