Cigarette prices will remain the same after Chancellor Rishi Sunak left tobacco taxes out of his Spring Budget for 2021, reports the Daily Mail.

Many were expecting a tax increase of around 2 per cent on tobacco to be announced as Mr Sunak had raised the price on cigarettes in both his Spring Budget 2020 and November Spending Review. However, cigarette duty is not mentioned at all in the Government’s Budget document and Mr Sunak did not refer to it in his address to Parliament.
According to the Daily Mail, last year’s budget saw the average price of the most expensive cigarettes go up from GBP 12.46 (USD 17.40) to GBP 12.73 (USD 17.77) and the cheapest pack of 20 rise from GBP 8.82 (USD 12.31) to GBP 9.10 (USD 12.70).
“We weren't expecting an increase as there were two last year,” said Simon Clark from pro-smoking group Forest.
On the other hand, Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking & Health, was disappointed. “ASH is disappointed that the Chancellor hasn't increased taxes on cigarettes by per cent above inflation as we recommended.
“Making tobacco less affordable is crucial to discouraging children from starting to smoke and delivering the Smokefree generation the Government has said it wants to see by 2030.”