Rishi Sunak has set out plans to get rid of disposable vapes to protect children’s health as he faces a backlash from the Tory right over his proposed tobacco sale ban.
During a school visit on Monday, the British prime minister said he was taking “strong action” to “stamp out” youth vaping, following a public consultation on the issue in which almost 70 per cent of respondents were in favour of a ban.
It is already illegal to sell vapes to anyone under 18, but evidence shows disposable vapes – which are cheaper and sold in smaller, more colourful packaging than refillable ones – are driving the rise in youth vaping.
In 2021, only 7.7 per cent of current vapers aged 11 to 17 used disposable vapes, but this increased to 52 per cent in 2022 and 69 per cent in 2023.
Headteachers and parents have expressed concerns over the rise in youth vaping, with data showing 7.6 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds now vape regularly or occasionally, up from 4.1 per cent in 2020.
Last year, the British government also announced a ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone born on or after January 1st, 2009.
This has angered former prime minister Liz Truss, who said on Sunday the move was “profoundly unconservative”.
She said: “Banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or later will create an absurd situation where adults enjoy different rights based on their birthdate.
“A Conservative government should not be seeking to extend the nanny state.
“This will only give succour to those who wish to ban further choices of which they don’t approve.
“The newly-elected National government in New Zealand is already reversing the generational tobacco ban proposed by the previous administration.
“The British government urgently needs to follow suit and reverse this profoundly unconservative policy.”
Former trade minister Sir Edward Leigh also last year said he would vote against the “ridiculous” measure.
Mr Sunak has promised MPs a “free vote” on the plan, calling it a “matter of conscience” for parliamentarians.
With Labour backing for the smoking ban, the measure would likely pass through the Commons with relative ease.
Mr Sunak told broadcasters on Monday “some people will disagree with me”, adding: “I don’t think there’s anything unconservative about caring about our children’s health.
“But on smoking, there’s been a long tradition in Parliament of these being free votes, which aren’t party political, people will have their own held views on that, that’s the same as it’s been in the past.
“So I respect that some people will disagree with me on this but… I think this is the right long-term thing for our country. Smoking causes one in four cancer deaths. It’s responsible for a hospital admission every minute.
“And if we don’t do something about it, hundreds of thousands of people will die in the coming years and I think that we do have a chance to do something about it.”
The ban on disposable vapes will use powers already in place under the Environmental Protection Act and is expected to come into force early next year.
Under the new plans, powers will also be introduced to restrict flavours which are specifically marketed at children and ensure that manufacturers produce plainer packaging and change how vapes are displayed in shops, moving them out of children’s sight.
New £100 fines will also be brought in for shops in England and Wales which sell vapes illegally to children.
Trading standards officers will be given powers to act “on the spot” to tackle underage tobacco and vape sales. This builds on a maximum £2,500 fine that local authorities can already impose.
Vaping alternatives – such as nicotine pouches – will also be banned for children.
Some £30 million new funding a year will be provided to bolster enforcement agencies – including Border Force, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Trading Standards – to implement these measures.
Lynne Neagle, the Welsh government’s deputy minister for mental health and wellbeing, said: “We want to take all actions possible to stop young people from starting smoking in the first place, to prevent youth vaping and to tackle the effects single-use vapes are having on our environment.”
Jenni Minto, Scotland’s public health minister, said: “I have worked closely with circular economy minister Lorna Slater on disposable vapes.
“These are a threat to both public health and the environment – from litter on our streets, to the risk of fires in waste facilities – that’s why we will act on our Programme for Government commitment and move to ban them.”
UK health secretary Victoria Atkins told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday the market around vaping has “developed very, very quickly”.
She added: “What I think has shocked a lot of parents is how cynically the companies have marketed their products towards children and young people through, for example, creating flavours such as bubble gum and candy floss, but also through the very bright colours of the packaging.
“And what we want to do is to stop the sale of disposable vapes because we know they’re that much cheaper than reusable vapes, and they are marketed in the way that they are.”
Asked what her message to Ms Truss is, she said: “Well, this, this is a big change. We absolutely acknowledge this.
“I think it’s rather like the debate that we had a decade ago about whether adults should be able to smoke in cars with their children.
“There was a lot of debate about that. But are we honestly saying now 10-12 years later that we would go back? Of course not.
“So to the debate even further back in time to smoking in public places, we wouldn’t go back to the days of smoke-filled pubs.
“And so this is one of those long-term decisions for the future that the Prime Minister wants to make and the Government is very, very ambitious about.”
