The UK Parliament Will Discuss A Bill To Phase Out Smoking
The bill would, in effect, raise the smoking age by one year every year until it applies to the entire population by outlawing the sale of tobacco products to anybody born after January 1, 2009.Despite resistance from many within his own Conservative Party, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s planned legislation to ban youth smoking will be the subject of the first debate in the UK parliament on Tuesday.
The bill would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to everyone who was born after January 1, 2009; in other words, it would raise the legal smoking age annually until it is applicable to the entire population.
“This has the potential to almost completely phase out smoking among young people as early as 2040,” the administration stated upon revealing the plan, calling the move “historic”.Even while opposition parties appear to be supporting the bill, Sunak still has to worry about potential rebellion from backbench Tory MPs.
The embattled leader, trying to turn around his party after months of dismal polling, has little political capital to work with within his split coalition.
Simon Clarke, a Conservative MP, stated on BBC radio that he was “both sceptical and downright opposed” to the proposals.An complete prohibition, in my opinion, runs the risk of backfiring, making smoking more fashionable, establishing a black market, and posing an insurmountable task to law enforcement,” the speaker stated.
During a Canadian event last week, former prime minister Boris Johnson also declared that he was “mad” that Winston Churchill’s party was “banning cigars”.Nonetheless, surveys of public opinion indicate that almost two thirds of UK citizens supported a gradual smoking ban.
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