PM Rushi Sunak’s announcement that the UK will hold a general election on July 4 has turned the smoking ban Bill into a campaign point.
Parliament will close on May 24 without taking the next step toward passing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill voted for in April. Passage of the Bill would make it illegal for anyone born after 2008 to buy tobacco products in the UK. Materials for vapes would have to follow rules similar to those for tobacco poducts. The move had support from both Labour and the Tories.
The primacy of the campaign
Instead of trying to push the ban through a second vote on Friday, Rishi Sunak will make it part of his platform for the six-week campaign before the general election. Labour will be doing likewise despite the party’s support during the first vote. At the same time, not moving the Bill placates its Tory opponents who, Financial Times had noted, had publicly warned the PM not to push it forward before the election. The BBC also notes that the Democratic Unionist Party had voted against the Bill, but with the proclaimed intention of improving it, especially in light of moves by the government of Ireland.
The Bill is currently with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill Committee and needed to be moved to Lords before the end of the current parliamentary session for it to still be moved forward after the general election. However, as Sunak had allowed for a free vote by Torie MPs, the bill was set aside because free vote Bills are usually not pushed forward at the last minute when a general election is called.
Human and financial costs
The Department of Health & Social Care calculates that smoking tobacco and in particular cigarettes kills approximately 80,000 people in the UK every year. It is the single-most cause of preventable ill health, disability, and death in the country and it costs British society over £17 billion yearly.
