The Parliament of the United Kingdom has finally approved, late this Tuesday, the Tobacco and Vaping Law, which will prohibit the sale of cigarettes or nicotine products to all those born after 2008. It is a health measure that seeks gradual elimination of the consumption of new generations.
The rebellion of the hard wing of the conservatives against a measure that, as they have denounced, represents an attack on the liberties of citizens by a “nanny state” has led to more than 100 deputies tories abstained and 57 voted against. Even so, the Government has carried out the law comfortably thanks to the support of the Labor opposition.
By imposing a ban on the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, and increasing the legal smoking age (18 years) by one year each year, the habit could be completely eliminated among people. young person in 2040. A measure similar to the one inaugurated along these lines by the previous Government of New Zealand, which was revoked as soon as a new far-right party came to power.
Sunak, however, was aware that the matter was going to cause disagreements within his party, and from the beginning he decided to grant his parliamentary group freedom of vote. Several members of his Government, such as the Minister of Business and Commerce, Kemi Badenoch, have voted against the measure. “I don't believe the ends justify the means. I am against a principle that treats adults differently, and the way it is going to be implemented. It doesn't seem right to me,” said Badenoch, whom the pools have long placed as one of the future contenders in the fight for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
“Nicotine robs people of their will to choose. The vast majority of smokers start the habit when they are young, and at least three quarters of that group say that, if they could go back in time, they would not have started smoking,” explained the Minister of Health, Victoria Atkins, during his defense of the law in the House of Commons debate.
The tobacco industry, according to the newspaper's exclusive report Guardian, has deployed a strategy of pressure on the deputies so that the law does not go ahead. He proposed an alternative such as increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21, instead of the drastic break pursued by the approved measure.
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