Sunak pledges to progressively raise tobacco age limit

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday vowed to introduce legislation to reduce tobacco use saying there was “no safe level of smoking”.

“I propose that in future, we raise the smoking age by one year every year. That means a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette, and that they and their generation can grow up smoke-free,” Sunak told his Conservative Party´s annual conference in a keynote address.

His proposal would make it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products -- effectively raising the smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population, a statement by Sunak´s Downing Street office said.

“This has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040,” it added, calling the move “historic”.

The statement said the government also planned to bring in measures to restrict young people vaping.

This could include restricting disposable vapes and regulating flavours and packaging to reduce their appeal to children, Downing Street added. Nick Hopkinson, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London, called it “an important step to protect children and young people from getting hooked on smoking.