Plans to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes in the UK from 18 to 21 could be announced by the end of this year, reports Liverpool Echo.
Liz Truss’ government have reaffirmed their commitment to plans to make Britain smoke free by 2030. Under Boris Johnson, a report was promised to be published detailing policies that would be introduced to make Britain smoke free, but the new Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey questioned those plans.
The Department for Health and Social Care said it was ‘inaccurate’ to say plans to curb smoking were being dropped, though they didn’t reveal when their plans to reach the 2030 target would be published as promised. Former health minister Steve Brine MP said it would be a ‘massive own goal’ if the plans were abandoned, as smoking is ‘biggest cause of cancer in the world today’.
On 11 October, Thérèse Coffey, health secretary and deputy prime minister, came under fire when she was unable to confirm if the report would be published. Activists and political commentators quickly linked her comments to her own smoking habit and links to tobacco companies.
In addition to raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes, other policies would be revealed in the report to make Britain smoke free. These include making vapes and e-cigarettes more accessible, introducing a new tax aimed at tobacco companies’ profits, and banning outdoor smoking, the report said.