The Health Secretary has said a phased smoking ban is the ‘most significant health intervention’ in a generation.
Wes Streeting said this after his Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed its first Commons hurdle by 415 votes to 47 – unsurprisingly, as this was a plan of the former Conservative government that Labour has taken up.
Still, given a free vote on it, 35 Tories were against the Bill including leader Kemi Badenoch and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, while 23 supported it. Seven Liberal Democrats and four Reform MPs also opposed it.
Apparently there is a concern about the Bill’s impact on civil liberties.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Tory shadow health secretary Edward Argar raised concerns about new powers for ministers to make it illegal to smoke in specific outdoor spaces, which were not in the previous bill proposed by the Conservatives. He said he was concerned a ban could be expanded to more outdoor spaces in the future.
Helen Morgan, for the Liberal Democrats, said people who chose to start smoking would potentially have to carry an ID card for the rest of their lives, something she “strongly opposed” due to “issues of privacy and personal liberty”.
Tory Andrew Rosindell suggested that Parliament should be “promoting the concept of freedom with responsibility and allowing people to make choices about their own lives”.
But Streeting warned that “there is no freedom in addiction”.
He said gradually raising the age at which people can buy and use tobacco (so nobody who is currently 15 will ever be allowed to use it legally in the UK) will create a “smoke-free generation and eventually a smoke-free nation”, adding up to “the most significant public health intervention in a generation”.
The bill would help shift the focus of healthcare “from treatment to prevention” and reduce pressures on the NHS, he said.
“Smokers are more likely to need NHS services, be admitted to hospital, drop out of the workforce and on to welfare, and need social care years earlier than if they didn’t smoke,” he added.
The Bill also bans vape advertising and sponsorship, and restricts the flavours and packaging of vapes in order to reduce their appeal to children.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Phased smoking ban is the ‘most significant health intervention’
The Health Secretary has said a phased smoking ban is the ‘most significant health intervention’ in a generation.
Wes Streeting said this after his Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed its first Commons hurdle by 415 votes to 47 – unsurprisingly, as this was a plan of the former Conservative government that Labour has taken up.
Still, given a free vote on it, 35 Tories were against the Bill including leader Kemi Badenoch and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, while 23 supported it. Seven Liberal Democrats and four Reform MPs also opposed it.
Apparently there is a concern about the Bill’s impact on civil liberties.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Tory shadow health secretary Edward Argar raised concerns about new powers for ministers to make it illegal to smoke in specific outdoor spaces, which were not in the previous bill proposed by the Conservatives. He said he was concerned a ban could be expanded to more outdoor spaces in the future.
Helen Morgan, for the Liberal Democrats, said people who chose to start smoking would potentially have to carry an ID card for the rest of their lives, something she “strongly opposed” due to “issues of privacy and personal liberty”.
Tory Andrew Rosindell suggested that Parliament should be “promoting the concept of freedom with responsibility and allowing people to make choices about their own lives”.
But Streeting warned that “there is no freedom in addiction”.
He said gradually raising the age at which people can buy and use tobacco (so nobody who is currently 15 will ever be allowed to use it legally in the UK) will create a “smoke-free generation and eventually a smoke-free nation”, adding up to “the most significant public health intervention in a generation”.
The bill would help shift the focus of healthcare “from treatment to prevention” and reduce pressures on the NHS, he said.
“Smokers are more likely to need NHS services, be admitted to hospital, drop out of the workforce and on to welfare, and need social care years earlier than if they didn’t smoke,” he added.
The Bill also bans vape advertising and sponsorship, and restricts the flavours and packaging of vapes in order to reduce their appeal to children.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
you might also like
Does Therese Coffey really know nothing – apart from how to take donor cash?
Isn’t banning cigarettes government interfering in our lives?
Is Keir Starmer trying to kill our pubs?