The House of Commons (Lower) of the United Kingdom approved this Tuesday in first reading the law that will prohibit anyone born after 2009 can buy tobacco legally in his entire life. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak considers this project one of the most important of his mandate, which was approved today with ease thanks to the support of the majority of the parliamentary parties.

To ensure compliance with the new rules, trading standards officers they will receive new powers to impose on-the-spot fines (fixed penalty notices) on retailers who illegally sell tobacco or vapes to children. All the money raised would be used to finance new measures of law enforcement.

The bill follows the government’s previously stated commitment to ban the sale and supply of disposable vaporizers under existing environmental legislation, which has been a key factor behind the rise in youth vaping. It is planned that the ban comes into force from April 2025.

A total of 383 deputies voted in favor of the law, compared to only 67 who did so against it, the vast majority of them members of Sunak’s own Conservative Party. Among the rebel ‘Tories’ (who had been given the freedom to vote by Sunak himself) were very prominent figures such as former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, or the Minister for Business, Kemi Badenoch.

The Minister of Health, Victoria Atkinsargued in the previous debate that “there is no freedom in addiction” and that those who defend free choice should support the veto, since lSmokers are victims of their addiction and they almost always admit that they would not have started smoking if they could go back. Those who opposed the measure, like Truss, argued that it “restricts the freedom” of individuals to decide about themselves.

The hard wing of the Tories, which also embodies the internal opposition to Sunak, voted en bloc against the legislation, which Johnson himself described as “madness.” Meanwhile, Labor overwhelmingly supported the text, which its Health spokesman, Wes Streeting, defended in the previous debate, as well as the Scottish nationalists and the Liberal Democrats.

The Government intends to restrict the sale of vaping devices

The law was advanced by Sunak at the Conservative congress last October and has the objective that anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 will not be able to buy tobacco in their entire life. The project also aims to restrict the sale of vaping devices and related products for adolescents and young people, although it does not foresee their total ban.

“It could damage their lungs while they are still developing, intensify long-term pressure on our NHS and damage their concentration in schools. We cannot replace one nicotine-addicted generation with another and vapers are cynically marketed toward our children,” Atkin said.

Furthermore, in his speech he recalled that They are sold at very affordable pricesand they share commercial space with sweets, they also have brands with cartoon characters and they are given flavors such as cotton candy and watermelon ice cream that make products attractive to teenagers.

“Our children are being exploited and we cannot and will not allow this to continue. That is why this bill will give us powers to crack down on child-friendly flavors and packaging and to change the way vapes are displayed in stores, measures on which we will consult,” he stated.