Rishi Sunak has confirmed his plan to effectively ban young people from smoking is still going ahead.
The PM was pressed about whether his proposals to create a smoke-free generation were still in gear after New Zealand - which spearheaded the plan - was reported to be rolling back on its ambition. The Pacific country passed historic laws last year banning people born on or after 1 January 2009 to ever buy cigarettes.
But in a shock turn of events, reports emerged overnight that the new centre-right government in the country intends to revoke the legislation passed by the previous liberal administration. Asked if the UK would follow New Zealand in ditching the plan, a spokeswoman for the PM said: "No. Our position is unchanged, we are committed to that. This is an important long-term decision and step to deliver a smoke-free generation, which remains critically important."
Mr Sunak pledged to raise the legal age to buy tobacco up by “one year, every year” at the Tory Party conference in September. “That means a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that their generation will grow up smoke-free,” he said in his conference speech.
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The PM said smoking puts enormous pressures on the NHS and "costs our country £70billion a year". Describing smoking as the "biggest cause of preventable disease and death", he said the move will cut cancer deaths by a quarter.
He went on: "For a Conservative, measures that restrict choice are never easy. I know not everyone in this hall will agree with me on this. But I have spent a long time weighing up this decision. Simply put, unlike all other legal products, there is no safe level of smoking. What has ultimately swayed me is that none of us, not even those who smoke, want our children to grow up to be smokers and this change can make that a reality. It will save more lives than any other decision we could take."
The UK, along with New Zealand, is one of 17 countries to enforce plain packaging on all cigarette packets.