Published on: 17 April 2024
Health campaigners have welcomed support for a smokefree generation after first vote in Parliament.
Tobacco smoking is the biggest cause of ill health, disability and death in the country – causing 64,000 deaths in England and over 117,000 deaths in the North East since the year 2000.
No other product kills up to 2/3 of its users, most of whom (83%) start as teenagers. This is why it is uniquely lethal and requires bold action.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons and first vote by MPs on Tuesday, 16 April. There was a majority of 316 in support.
The Bill seeks to raise the age of sale for all tobacco products one year every year from 2027 onwards. This would mean lethal tobacco could never be legally sold to anyone born or after 1st January 2009, aged 15 or younger this year.
In the North East, 73% of adults support the proposals to raise the age of sale by a year each year and the policy also enjoys cross party support.
Over 50 organisations from the North East submitted responses in a consultation in 2023 – from fire and rescue, local authorities and NHS Trusts to the Association of Directors of Public Health North East and the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board.
Raising the age of sale from 2027 will come into force once the Bill is passed as will new fixed penalty fines of £100 for anyone selling cigarettes or vapes to children. Children or young people cannot be fined.
Ailsa Rutter, OBE Director of Fresh and Balance, said:
"Tobacco needs to be treated in this way because it is unique in how lethal it is. No other product than tobacco is guaranteed to kill early two of its lifelong customers.
"Tobacco addiction usually starts when people are children so it completely deprives people of any choice. Most smokers also regret ever starting and most try to stop many times. It is not a free choice when you are addicted.
"This is not about depriving adult smokers who don’t want to stop. It is about giving our next generation a life free of a cancer-causing addiction which costs tens of thousands of pounds over a lifetime."
Former smoker Sue Mountain from South Tyneside has undergone treatment three times for laryngeal cancer as a result of smoking.
She said:
"This is a momentous step to stop more people getting cancer in the future.
"The main thing is that MPs agree enough is enough.
"This is all about a better life for our children and grandchildren – free of waking up needing a cigarette, free of the costs and free of the health risks.
"I started smoking as a kid, before I realised how addictive it was.
"Nobody who starts smoking young ever thinks they’ll smoke for life. It might not prevent everyone starting to smoke, but it will stop a lot of people and save them from dying needlessly early.
"This is not about limited freedoms but investing in our future with a healthier society and protecting vulnerable youngsters from the lifelong effects of smoking."
Read and watch Cathy's plea here.
Amanda Healy, Durham County Council’s Director of Public Health and Chair of the Association of Directors of Public Health North East Network, said:
"The response from local authorities, NHS trusts and many other organisations and individuals to create a smokefree generation has been overwhelming.
"Smoking now costs our region £2.5 billion a year – a cost not just felt by families but to our economy, local authority social care budgets and to the NHS.
"The North East has seen the biggest fall in smoking in England in the last two decades, but for generations saw the worst outcomes from diseases like lung cancer and COPD and the impact in our communities with people left disabled or dying too early from smoking.
"There are very few families who haven’t seen a loved one suffer because of smoking…that is why people don’t want that for their children or grandchildren."
