Plans to increase the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21 in the UK could be announced by the end of this year.
Liz Truss' government have reaffirmed their commitment to plans to make Britain smoke free by 2030. Under Boris Johnson, a report was promised to be published detailing policies that would be introduced to make Britain smoke free, but the new Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey cast doubt on these plans earlier this week.
Increasing the minimum age to buy cigarettes would allow people over 21 to continue to purchase cigarettes and be encouraged to quit by other methods, while hopefully reducing the number of young people from getting addicted in first place.
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The phrase 'smoke free' does not specifically mean that no one in the UK would be able to smoke, but rather it would involve reducing the number of smokers down below 5%. Different methods for that, including raising the minimum age to be able to buy cigarettes, were expected to be included in the announcement.
The Department for Health and Social Care said it was 'inaccurate' to say plans to bring down smoking were being dropped, though they didn't reveal when their plans to hit the 2030 target would be published as promised. Former health minister Steve Brine MP said it would be a 'massive own goal' if the plans were scrapped, as smoking is 'biggest cause of cancer in the world today'.
On Tuesday Thérèse Coffey, health secretary and deputy prime minister, came under fire when she was unable to confirm if the report would be published. Activists and political commentators were quick to link her comments to her own smoking habit and links to tobacco companies.
Yesterday, reports from The Guardian said insiders are saying there is 'no chance' that extra measures to tackle smoking will be brought in. While the statement from the Department for Health and Social Care shows the government's objective to get people to ditch smoking within the next eight years still stands, a recent independent review into efforts to get the nation to quit smoking found that ministers were set to miss their target by at least seven years.
As well as increase the minimum age to buy cigarettes, other policies would be revealed in the report to make Britain smoke free. These include making vapes and e-cigarettes more accessible, introducing a new tax aimed at tobacco companies' profits, and banning smoking outdoors.
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