UK PM Rishi Sunak defends plan to create 'smoke-free' younger generations
SMoking UK
Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, has proposed a peculiar way to create a 'smoke-free' generation. He wants to raise England's legal age for buying cigarettes by one year, every year. However, critics of the plan say it would just create a "black market."
Defending his plan, Sunak said in an interview with Radio 4: "Smoking is unequivocally the single biggest preventable cause of death, disability and illness."
One year, every year
As per Sunak, raising the legal age to purchase a cigarette by one year every year would mean a "14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke-free".
Speaking at the annual Tory party conference on Wednesday (Oct 4), the UK PM also promised to bring in a restriction on the availability of vapes.
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This, he said, would be part of the government's plans to "put the next generation first."
Criticism of the plan
Critics claim that the move would lead to the creation of a "black market."They also challenge him on his earlier push back against a part of the government's anti-obesity strategy.
At the time, he had chalked it up to "people's right to choose". The anti-obesity strategy plans to ban two-for-one junk deals. However, the scheme has been delayed by the government for another two years.
In an interview with BBC, Sunak said that smoking cigarettes and eating crisps or a piece of cake. He said that while junk food means an unbalanced diet, there is no safe level of smoking.
"Smoking is unequivocally the single biggest preventable cause of death, disability and illness in our society," said Sunak.
He also claimed, "Everyone recognises this measure will be the single biggest intervention in public health in a generation."
The British PM said that measures restricting choices were "never easy", but that nobody would want their children or grandchildren to grow up smoking.
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