The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, introduced and backed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, banning everyone born after 2009 from smoking, has passed the House of Commons by a margin of 383 votes to 67.
Government officials said the bill would create the UK’s first ever “smoke-free generation”.
There are still several steps to go before the bill is officially passed, including a debate and vote in the upper house of the British parliament, the House of Lords.
The Conservative Party has been internally divided over the smoking ban, which many Tory leaders believe is a misguided move. A total of 178 Conservative MPs voted in favour of the bill, 57 voted against it and 106 did not vote.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week at a conference in Canada:
When the party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars, donnez-moi un break [give me a break] as they say in Quebec, it’s just mad.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truess echoed Johnson’s concerns, saying the goal of legislating to regulate the personal decisions of adult men and women was misguided. She said:
It is very important that until people have decision-making capability while they are growing up that we protect them. But I think the whole idea that we can protect adults from themselves is hugely problematic.
About 6.4 million people were smokers in the UK in 2022, the Office for National Statistics has estimated, around 13% of the adult population. That is much lower than other European countries such as Italy, Germany and France, where between 18%-23% of adults smoke, according to OECD figures.
There is strong support for the ban from medical and healthcare experts and charities, who say smoking causes 80,000 deaths every year plus many more smoking-related illnesses.
