A new smoking ban was backed by MPs last night – but only after leading Conservative Kemi Badenoch opposed the plan.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tobacco and Vaping Bill, which he wants to be part of his legacy, was passed by 383 votes to 67.
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A total of 57 Conservatives voted against and a further 106 abstained, meaning that only around half of Conservative MPs voted in favour.
The law will make it illegal for anyone born after 2009 to purchase tobacco.
In a heated Commons session, the Prime Minister’s big idea was criticized by several senior Conservatives.
He gave his deputies a “free vote,” meaning they could vote against it without disciplinary action.
Expected leadership candidate Kemi led the charge against the landmark legislation – burnishing her credentials with the conservative right.
The minister, responsible for the briefing on equality, said she strongly believes in “equality before the law”.
Some Conservative MPs say Rishi’s ban violates this principle, as it will mean that – even when they become adults – people will only be able to smoke if they are born before a fixed date.
Today, a 16-year-old might smoke one day, but anyone who turns 15 this year or younger will never be able to.
Ms Badenoch said: “We should not treat legally competent adults differently in this way, where people born one day apart will have permanently different rights.
“Among other reasons, it will create difficulties in application.
“This burden will not fall on the State, but on private companies.
“Smoking rates are already falling significantly in the UK and I think we can do more to stop children taking up this habit.”
Five ministers and high-profile names, including Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick, also voted against, while Commons leader Penny Mordaunt abstained.
The bill had its second reading with a comfortable majority, with the support of Labor MPs.
But Foreign Affairs Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan revealed she could not support the plan, saying changes were needed to deter young smokers without taking away their freedom of choice.
Former minister Dehenna Davison, whose grandmother had lung cancer smokesaid ministers cannot legislate based on “good intentions and illusions”, saying the plan was neither effective nor practical.
But it came at a time when a poll showed that 59 percent of the public supported the phased ban, with 64 percent of 2019 Conservative voters also supporting it.
The changes will make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone aged 15 or under.
I would say it is our responsibility, in fact our duty, to protect the next generation
Secretary of Health, Victoria Atkins
I wouldn’t ban it smoke since anyone who can currently legally purchase tobacco can continue to do so if it becomes law.
Former PM Liz Truss criticized the bill as a “virtue signaling piece of legislation”.
Attacking Labor MPs who support her, she said: “These are the same people who are saying that in future we should ban cigarettes for 30-year-olds and yet they won’t vote to ban puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for under 18 years old.
‘No freedom in addiction’
“I’m very concerned that this policy is emblematic of a technocratic establishment in this country that wants to limit people’s freedoms, and I think that’s a problem.”
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She added: “It’s really important that until people have the ability to make decisions as they grow up, we protect them.
“But I think the whole idea that we can protect adults from themselves is extremely problematic and, in practice, infantilizes people.”
Former Conservative president Sir Jake Berry likened the ban to something from China and warned that the government is addicted to telling people what to do.
But Health Secretary Victoria Atkins defended the changes insisting that “there is no freedom in addiction”.
She said: “Nicotine robs people of their freedom of choice.
“The vast majority of smokers start when they are young and three-quarters say that if they could go back in time they wouldn’t have started.
“I would say it is our responsibility, indeed our duty, to protect the next generation.”
The Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Chris Whitty, rejected “pro-choice” arguments against the bill.
He said: “People get hooked on smoking from a very young age. Once they become addicted, their choice is eliminated.
“So if you’re pro-choice, you should be against something that takes away people’s choices.
“The vast majority of smokers wish they had never started, but now they are in trouble.”
Sir Chris attacked the tobacco industry’s arguments, saying they were “weak”. He added: “They are doing this for commercial reasons.”
No 10 said: “The Prime Minister is in agreement with the Chief Medical Officer.
We should not treat legally competent adults any differently than this, where people born one day apart will have permanently different rights
Kemi Badenoch
“It’s important to take action against the biggest preventable cause of health problems.”
However, Simon Clark, from smokers’ lobby group Forest, said: “We are calling on MPs to reject a policy that will fuel the black market and treat future generations of adults like children.”
Former minister Sir John Hayes said: “The idea of a sliding age of consent, with the consequence that someone of 35 will be able to buy tobacco, someone of 34 will not, and so on, is at best a curiosity and at worst, absurd.”
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DO YOU SUPPORT CIGS REPRESSION?
Yes: says Colin Robertson, head of resources at Sun
THERE are a lot of things my kids do that I wish they wouldn’t do.
Staring at phones or playing Fortnite for hours on end. But I let things pass, mainly in search of a calmer life. But there is a limit – and letting them smoke cigarettes goes beyond that.
At the moment I can make my wishes come true. But at 18 they can choose to buy tobacco products because the law says so.
I don’t want them to choose to smoke (or vape), which is why I’m in favor of this new staggered age limit, as it will mean that my two children – aged 12 and 10 – will never legally be able to buy tobacco.
And this will help stop them from smoking. See, I have a crazy notion that this could also limit their ability to get smoking-related cancers and other diseases that we know are caused by smoking.
And that is what this new legislation is about. Creating a smoke-free generation.
This is not about preventing existing smokers from “enjoying” their cigarettes.
Smoking is not good and every smoker knows that. If they say otherwise, they will be happy to see my children – and yours – become addicted to smoking and die.
It’s that simple. Bring on the ban.
No: says TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer
I DON’T smoke, I’ve never smoked and I can’t stand the smell of cigarettes.
So you’d think I’d be first in line to cheer about Rishi Sunak’s plan to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone aged 15 or under for life.
But I’m not. This law is not about saving lives, it is about controlling our lives.
Yes, smoking is a filthy, expensive habit that will kill you, but this ban is absurd.
How can we have a law so that, within a few years, an 18-year-old cannot buy cigarettes while his partner, born the day before, can buy 50 packs if he wants? And in the coming decades, we will see a 57-year-old unable to afford cigarettes while a 58-year-old can.
The absurdity and injustice of this law will be evident long before then, so would any government repeal it? Oh no!
Instead, they will double down and, urged on by their benefactors, expand the law to ban all adults from smoking.
Why do we need a ban on a habit that is already disappearing? And prohibition will only fuel a black market.
Cheer for this ban if you want, but don’t complain when your addiction is next on the list.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
