A Labour government could ban the sale of cigarettes in order to eradicate smoking by 2030, says the shadow health secretary.
Wes Streeting said Labour would consult on banning the sale and purchase of cigarettes as part of a “radical” package of measures to stamp out smoking.
He told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the Government needed to consider more radical options as the UK was set to miss its target of the UK being “smoke-free” by 2030.
“One of the things that was recommended to the Government in one of their own reviews was phasing out the sale of cigarettes altogether over time. We will be consulting on that and a whole range of other measures,” said Mr Streeting.
Just last month New Zealand passed extensive legislation aimed at preventing children from becoming smokers, including a lifetime prohibition on cigarette sales to everyone born after 2008.
Under the new laws, which take effect this year, the country’s smoking age of 18 would be raised year by year until it applied to the whole population. Beginning in 2023, those under 15 would be barred from buying cigarettes for the rest of their lives.
Mr Streeting said the party wanted to see how the New Zealand laws worked. “I am genuinely curious,” he said. “If we are going to get the NHS back on track, we need to focus on public health.
“I am curious to see where the voters are on this, where the country is and what the appetite is for change. We are going to have to think radically. What the Government has done to the NHS is a disgrace. It is going to take time to fix it and fresh, radical thinking.”
“If we’re going to get the NHS back on track, we also need to focus on public health”
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 8, 2023
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the Labour party would consult on eventually banning the sale of cigarettes altogether #BBCLauraK https://t.co/PEy1qcZRco pic.twitter.com/5xYBTD260V
His comments follow a review ordered by Sajid Javid when he was health secretary which listed 15 measures to give the UK its “best chance” of hitting a national target of making the UK smoke-free by 2030.
These included raising the age of sale from 18 by one year every year until eventually, no one could buy a tobacco product in the UK, and the promotion of vapes as an effective “swap to stop” tool to help people quit smoking.
It also recommended improving prevention in the NHS so smokers were offered advice and support to quit at every interaction they have with health services and £125 million extra each year to support smoke-free policies.
The review cited NHS data which showed one in four deaths from all cancers were estimated to be from smoking.
It found smoking caused a disproportionate burden on the most disadvantaged families and communities: at its most extreme, smoking prevalence was 4.5 times higher in Burnley than in Exeter.
