A group of Tory MPs are threatening to rebel against Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban that would see anyone born after 1 January 2009 never legally be allowed to smoke, unless cigars are exempt, reports The Sun.

Rishi Sunak plans to phase out smoking by raising the legal age to buy tobacco meaning that anyone born after 1 January 2009 will never be able to legally smoke cigarettes. However, a group of senior Tory MPs have now signalled that they will rebel against these plans unless cigars are taken out of the equation. This follows news that the UK cigar import has raised GBP 141million in tax last year and the MPs are now urging the Department of Health (DoH) to protect the GBP 800million UK cigar import, reports The Sun. They also pointed out that banning shisha pipes could mean the end for many Middle Eastern restaurants.
“The number of MPs raising concerns privately is much higher than those criticising the policy in public,” a DoH source said.
The Government is consulting on the plans, with the listening exercise due to close early next month, reports The Sun.
Meanwhile, Simon Clark, boss of smokers group Forest, feels the entire policy should be abandoned with adults being given the choice whether to smoke or not.
“Once you’re 18, and an adult, you must be allowed to choose to smoke tobacco, regardless of whether it’s a cigarette or a cigar,” he said. “We think it’s wrong to discriminate against some consumers by creating a two-tier society in which a relatively small group of adults who can afford to buy cigars are permitted do so, while millions of mostly working class adults, who can only afford to buy and smoke cheaper cigarettes, are told they can’t.”