Nearly two thirds of the British public are opposed to the proposed generational tobacco ban. Photo credit: Lindsay Fox, CC2.0.
Polling shows broad opposition in the UK to the proposed generational smoking ban scheduled to become law this year.
Nearly two thirds of respondents—including smokers and non-smokers—oppose plans that would bar anyone born after January 1, 2009, from buying cigarettes. A survey conducted by Whitestone Insight for the Freedom Association found that only 1 in 3 Labour voters support the proposal.
Under the plan, a decade from now a 27-year-old could legally purchase cigarettes, while a 26-year-old would not. The poll also found that 29% of respondents want the current law to remain unchanged, with both smoking and vaping prohibited for those under 18. Another 26% favor raising the legal age to 21.
Reform MP Lee Anderson, who opposes the bill, criticized the policy in sharp terms. “There isn’t a better example of warped political priorities than the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill,” he said. “While my working-class voters in Ashfield battle higher taxes, unemployment, and a soaring cost of living crisis, the Labor government pushes through a nanny-state policy originally – shamefully – mooted by the Conservatives,” Anderson added.
“The bid to outlaw smoking through a generational ban which will see shop assistants asking for birth certificates before selling a packet of Benson & Hedges is unenforceable and costly to the taxpayer, while fueling a fresh crop of dodgy dealing black-market spivs.”
David Campbell Bannerman, chairman of the Freedom Association, also rejected the proposal. “It looks like the generational smoking ban has gone up in smoke,” he said. “Nearly two thirds of the public are opposed to what is an unworkable and unenforceable proposed law.”
“Shopkeepers, who face fines otherwise, have better things to do than quizzing middle-aged men about whether they are old enough to smoke. Yet this is where this laughable policy is leading us,” he said.
Bannerman also pointed to concerns over Northern Ireland. “On top of that, the European Union is making clear that the ban is illegal in Northern Ireland because it is still subject to single market rules,” he said.
“Keir Starmer is good at one thing – U-turns. He should perform another one and drop the whole idea.”
Whitestone surveyed 2,082 UK adults online between December 12 and December 14 last year.