Rishi Sunak may ban cigarettes in UK

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering introducing measures that would ban the next generation from ever being able to buy cigarettes, The Guardian reported on Friday, citing government sources.

Rishi Sunak is looking at anti-smoking measures similar to laws New Zealand announced last year, which include a ban on selling tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, the report said.

“We want to encourage more people to quit and meet our ambition to be smokefree by 2030, which is why we have already taken steps to reduce smoking rates,” a British government spokesperson said in an emailed response to Reuters.

Those measures include free vape kits, a voucher scheme to incentivise pregnant women to quit, and consulting on mandatory cigarette pack inserts, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson declined to comment further on The Guardian report.

The policies under consideration are part of a new consumer-focused drive from Sunak’s team before next year’s expected election, the report said.

Britain in May announced it would close a loophole that let retailers give free samples of vapes to children in a clampdown on e-cigarettes.

Separately, councils in England and Wales in July called on the government to ban the sale of single-use vapes by 2024 on both environmental and health grounds.