U.K. Generational Tobacco Ban Resurrected by New Labour Government (Update)

On Tuesday, King Charles will deliver the king’s speech, which will outline the plans of the U.K.’s newly-elected government. As expected, those plans include bringing back a proposal that would ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after 2008.

Update (July 17, 2024) — As expected, King Charles signaled the Labour government would reintroduce the proposal. In his speech, King Charles said, “A Bill will be introduced to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.” 

According to a report from The Guardian, the generational tobacco ban will be included in the remarks, which are written by the majority but delivered by King Charles. This speech is likely to be quite different than the one King Charles delivered in November. In the July 4 election, the Labour Party won 412 of the 650 seats, ending 14 years of rule by the Conservative Party.

The generational tobacco ban was proposed by the last government. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak championed the cause for the last couple of years. In April, the bill cleared a key vote, though more work was needed to make it a law. All of that came to a halt once Sunak called for the July 4 elections.

If anything, the bill should have a much easier time passing now that Labour is in control. Of the 67 votes against the bill in April, 59 were by Conservative members. If passed, the bill would ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009. In addition, it would make it illegal to sell or give anyone under the age of 18 any vaping products and allow for the Secretary of State to enact new vaping regulations. Furthermore, it would increase the penalties for those caught violating tobacco age restriction rules to include a maximum penalty of a one-year ban on selling tobacco and/or vaping products for businesses caught repeatedly violating the rules.

New Zealand was the first country to introduce a generational tobacco ban, though less than a year after it passed, the country’s new government announced and followed through with plans to reverse course on the policy.

This story was originally published on July 12, 2024.