New rules to be announced in Parliament tomorrow could see the words Smoking Kills printed directly onto every cigarette, with huge fines and prison time for tobacco manufacturers who refuse.
Lord George Young is to introduce a private members bill which could see the big red message become part of cigarette laws.
Warnings would range from “Smoking kills” to “You don’t need me any more.”
Lord Young, 79, said: “This is cost-free, popular and more effective than health warnings on packets. The Government could respond positively and I would be delighted if it did.”
He first proposed the measure as a health minister under Margaret Thatcher, reports the Mirror, but the tobacco industry successfully resisted.
They said the ink would be damaging to smokers' health.
Deborah Arnott of Action on Smoking and Health said: “Cigarettes kill smokers, not cigarette packs, so obviously they are where health warnings are most needed.
“All it needs is Government support for us to become the first country to put ‘smoking kills’ on the cigarette itself.”
Simon Clark of smokers’ campaign group Forest said: “Smokers are well aware of the health risks.”
Last week a Parliamentary group called for the Prime Minister to raise the legal smoking age to 21.
There are seven million smokers in the UL and 776,000 die every year - with 500,000 hospotalisations linked to smoking.
