Rishi Sunak has unveiled radical plans to stamp out cigarette-smoking for future generations in a wide-ranging Tory party conference speech that took in his Indian heritage, education reform and Britain’s hotly debated transport infrastructure.
The prime minister announced plans for a UK smoking ban by raising the legal smoking age by one year every year, meaning a 14-year-old today will never legally be able to buy a cigarette.
But it’s understood Liz Truss will vote against the plan, raising the prospect of other right-wingers trying to join her in blocking it.
The PM also pledged to crack down on the sale of disposable vapes to children, saying more must be done to restrict their availability to under-18s.
His announcement on cigarettes was overshadowed by finally admitting he would scrap the HS2 rail link to Manchester – weeks afterThe Independent first revealed secret talks to axe the northern leg of the line.
Another Tory ex-PM, David Cameron, attacked the decision, saying Mr Sunak had “thrown away 15 years of cross-party consensus” and made future infrastructure projects much harder.
