The United Kingdom’s Parliament has approved the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, barring anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, from ever purchasing tobacco.
The measure aims to create the country’s first “smoke-free generation” and has secured final approval, with royal assent expected next week before it becomes law.
According to Al Jazeera, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting hailed the development as a “historic moment” during Tuesday’s proceedings in the House of Commons. “Prevention is better than cure,” he said.
“This reform will save lives, ease pressure on the NHS, and build a healthier Britain. Children in the UK will be part of the first smoke-free generation, protected from a lifetime of addiction and harm,” he added.
Introduced by Streeting in 2024, the bill grants ministers sweeping powers to regulate tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products.
These include controls on flavours, packaging and branding, as well as bans on advertising targeting children.
Vaping will also be outlawed in key areas such as playgrounds, cars carrying children, and outside schools and hospitals, significantly expanding the UK’s smoke-free zones.
Baroness Gillian Merron, parliamentary undersecretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, underscored its significance in the House of Lords on Monday: “It is, in fact, the biggest public health intervention in a generation and I can assure all noble Lords it will save lives.”
According to the BBC, the policy traces its roots to 2023, when then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government first proposed incrementally raising the legal purchasing age by one year each year until no one could buy tobacco.
The plan stalled ahead of the 2024 general election but was later revived and passed under the subsequent Labour government.
While health advocates welcomed the move, opposition came from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has vowed to repeal the ban if his party wins the next election, calling it “plainly idiotic” in comments to LBC.