A Labor government could ban the sale of cigarettes New Zealand-style.
Shadow Secretary Wes Streeting said the party would consult on stopping cigarette sales as part of a “radical new thinking” to ease pressure on the NHS.
New Zealand will introduce new laws this year banning anyone born after 2008 from selling tobacco.
In what is believed to be the world’s first law of its kind, raising the legal smoking age each year aims to prevent the country’s next generation from ever taking up smoking.
Streeting said he was “really curious” about how the New Zealand law, which is accompanied by a range of other measures to make smoking less affordable and accessible, would work.
It comes after an independent government-commissioned study published this summer recommended raising the legal smoking age of 18 by one year a year.
Ministers previously set a target to make England smoke-free by 2030.
Shadow Secretary Wes Streeting said Labor would consult on ending cigarette sales as part of a “radical new thinking” to ease pressure on the NHS
New Zealand to introduce new laws this year banning anyone born after 2008 from selling tobacco
Smoking has steadily declined since 1974, with around 15 per cent of the UK population smoking in 2019
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“One of the things that one of your reviews recommended to the government was to phase out the sale of cigarettes,” Streeting told the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“We will discuss these and all possible other measures.
The New Zealand government does. We want to see how it works. But I’m really curious.
“If we want to get the NHS back on track, we must also focus on public health. And I’m curious how the voters are doing, where the country stands and what hunger there is for change.
“So we have to think radically. What the government has done to the NHS is a disgrace.
“It’s going to take time to sort it out and radically rethink it, and that’s what Labor is all about.”
An independent study by dr. Commissioned by former health secretary Sajid Javid, Javed Khan was published in August and recommended a series of measures to eradicate smoking in England.
DR Khan warned that without further action, England would fall at least seven years short of the 2030 smoke-free target and that the poorest sections of society would not reach it until 2044.
The number of smokers in the UK has fallen from around half the population in the 1970s to around 15 per cent today.
However, use among under-30s in England was found to have increased by 25 per cent during the Covid pandemic, equating to more than 600,000 new smokers.
The charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) estimates that the annual cost to the NHS of treating smoking-related diseases is £2.4 billion.
They also estimated that the cost to social care and society in general is still worth billions of pounds.
The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates tobacco tax will bring in £10.7 billion in 2022-2023.
Ash chief executive Deborah Arnott said: “Tackling smoking is vital as it remains a leading cause of premature death and morbidity and accounts for half the difference in life expectancy between rich and poor.”
“Ash supports a consultation on raising the selling age, but also on how to achieve it.
The New Zealand option is one model, but another, easier to implement and widely supported by the majority of the public as well as tobacco retailers, is to raise the sales age to 21. Both options should be explored.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
