Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to gradually ban smoking in Great Britain. The minimum age for smoking would de facto be raised by one year every year until the entire population is affected in the long term.
The sale of tobacco products to people born after January 1, 2009 should be fundamentally and completely banned, the government says. But there are deep divisions in the ruling party; many members are against the smoking ban. A total of 57 MPs from Sunak's Conservative Party voted against it, including former Prime Minister Liz Truss. Nevertheless, the majority of parliament was in favor of the bill. The law cleared the first hurdle in the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday, with 67 voting for a second reading. The bill is expected to be voted on in the House of Commons later this week, with the aim of passing it into law by the end of the year. It is expected that the bill will be approved by the British parliament in the next few weeks.