Why Rishi Sunak's 'mad' smoking ban 'is destined to fail': Critics warn ... trends now
Will it even work?
That's the million-pound question Rishi Sunak faces today, as his bold plan to ban Generation Alpha smoking moves one step closer to becoming law.
Under the Prime Minister's hotly-contested proposal, being debated in parliament today, anyone born after 2009 won't ever be able to legally buy tobacco.
If passed, as expected, the age at which people can purchase cigarettes would be raised by one year annually.
Leading experts say Mr Sunak's ban would save thousands from dying prematurely and pocket the cash-strapped NHS vital extra billions.
Under the Prime Minister's hotly-contested proposal, being debated in parliament today, anyone born after 2009 won't ever be able to legally buy tobacco. If passed, as expected, the age at which people can purchase cigarettes would be raised by one year annually. Leading experts say Rishi Sunak's ban would save thousands from dying prematurely and pocket the cash-strapped NHS vital extra billions
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2023 health report showed 12.7 per cent of Brits over the age of 15 smoke cigarettes daily, far higher than the US and New Zealand, the latter of which recently introduced a similar phased smoking ban
Yet critics and MPs opposed to 'nanny-state' measures worry the move to create a smoke-free generation will backfire.
Some fear that health chiefs may eye up crackdowns on sugar, caffeine and alcohol next, calling the move a 'slippery slope'.
No10 sources believe up to 50 MPs are planning to defy the PM today and vote against his flagship plans.
However, the Bill is widely believed to pass regardless of the internal Tory backlash, given Labour has agreed to back it.
Maxwell Marlow, director of research at thinktank The Adam Smith Institute, said the ban was 'no way to govern a free society'.
He told MailOnline: 'The public have not been properly asked whether they want their liberties to be infringed in this unprecedented manner.
'This ban is a charter for criminals, who will sell far more dangerous products to the unsuspecting public, even those who smoke now.
'This is a slippery slope, and gives rise to the valid concern that our public health bureaucrats will next seek to further regulate sugar, caffeine, and alcohol because they don't believe that the British public is smart enough to understand the risks.
'This is no way to govern a free society.'
Meanwhile, Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank, told MailOnline: 'Most people who start smoking in Britain these days are 18 or older and considered legally competent.
'Of all the people in this country who have ever smoked, 70 per cent are now nonsmokers, so it clearly not an impossible addiction to break.
'Only one in five smokers have a strong desire to quit and there are plenty of low risk ways of consuming nicotine if they choose to switch.
'Most smokers just want the government to leave them alone.'
Former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke also argued he was 'both sceptical and downright opposed' to the plans.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There are good ways to tackle a problem like this and then there are bad ways, and I think that an outright ban risks being counterproductive.
'I think it actually risks making smoking cooler, it certainly risks creating a black market, and it also risks creating a unmanageable challenge for the authorities.'
Other vocal nay-sayers include ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage and former PM Boris Johnson, who last week labelled the ban 'absolutely nuts'.
Liz Truss, Johnson's short-lived successor, also told the BBC: 'We shouldn't be telling people not to smoke and I worry about where it will lead.'
The Government, however, has wielded stats showing how smoking costs the economy £17bn a year through lost productivity and knock-on effects to the NHS.
For comparison, tobacco duties generate around £10billion annually.
Polling by YouGov for charity, Action on Smoking and Health, last year also found 75 per cent of the public in England supported the government's smoke-free ambitions.
Tests on e-cigarettes confiscated from youngsters found they contained dangerous levels of lead, nickel and chromium. Some were almost ten times above safe limits. Exposure to lead can impair brain development, while the other two metals can trigger blood clotting
Under the proposals, funding packages of up to £140million to support people quitting smoking will be made available.
The Government believes the phased ban, raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco by one year every year from 2027, will lead to 1.7million fewer people smoking by 2075.
It predicts the move will save tens of thousands of lives, and avoiding avoid up to 115,000 cases of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other lung diseases.
Mr Sunak has insisted
