On Tuesday, the House of Lords gave final approval to legislation that will prohibit anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 from ever legally purchasing tobacco in the United Kingdom.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which originated in the House of Commons in November 2024, cleared both chambers of Parliament and now awaits only royal assent to develop into law. Once enacted, it will create the first generation in UK history legally barred from buying cigarettes or tobacco products for their entire lives, a measure ministers describe as the most significant public health intervention in a generation.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who introduced the bill, called its passage a historic moment, emphasizing that prevention is preferable to cure and that the reform will save lives while reducing pressure on the National Health Service. Baroness Gillian Merron, speaking in the Lords, echoed this, stating the bill would save lives and represented the biggest public health advancement in a generation.
The legislation extends beyond a simple age restriction. It grants ministers recent authority to regulate the flavours, packaging, and advertising of tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products, including banning branding and promotion aimed at children. Vaping will also be prohibited in specific settings where children are present, such as playgrounds, cars with children inside, and outside schools and hospitals, expanding smoke-free zones across the country.
Supporters, including major health charities, argue the bill will break the cycle of addiction and protect future generations from the preventable harm caused by tobacco. Sarah Sleet of Asthma and Lung UK said the legislation would transform national health by preventing the tobacco industry from harming the lungs of young people. Hazel Cheeseman of Action on Smoking and Health described the end of smoking’s devastation as no longer uncertain but inevitable, with the focus now shifting to how quickly a smoke-free future can be achieved.
Critics remain, however. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, previously labelled the approach “plainly idiotic” and pledged to repeal it if his party won the next general election. Some vaping companies have also warned the restrictions could unintentionally push former smokers who now utilize e-cigarettes back toward traditional tobacco products.
The government’s rationale rests on stark statistics: smoking causes 64,000 deaths and 400,000 hospital admissions annually in England alone, costs the NHS £3 billion in treatment, and imposes broader societal costs between £21.3 billion and £27.6 billion each year, largely through lost productivity. These figures, cited in The Guardian, underscore the scale of the burden the bill aims to lift.
This is not the first attempt to phase out tobacco sales in the UK. In 2023, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government introduced a plan to incrementally raise the legal purchase age by one year each year, eventually banning sales to anyone. That proposal was shelved before the 2024 general election but was later revived and reworked by the Labour administration into the current legislation.
What happens next for the bill to become law?
After passing both houses of Parliament, the bill requires royal assent, a formal step that is typically a formality and expected to occur next week.
How does this differ from previous attempts to restrict tobacco sales?
Unlike the earlier Conservative plan to gradually increase the purchase age year by year, this law imposes a permanent ban on anyone born after a specific date, creating a permanent cutoff rather than a rolling restriction.