UK parliament to vote on smoking ban for those born after 2009: report

Plans to stop young people born since 2009 ever smoking being debated at the U.K.’s Parliament.

According to BBC News, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s bill aims to create the UK’s first smoke-free generation in a major public health intervention.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would ensure anyone turning 15 from this year would be banned from buying cigarettes, and also aims to make vapes less appealing to children.

A number of Tory MPs have told the BBC they won’t back the bill.

Conservative MPs will get a free vote on it so they won’t be ordered to vote with the government, but the bill is likely to pass as it has Labour support.

The bill would make the sale of tobacco products, rather than the act of smoking, illegal.

Opponents include former prime ministers Johnson, who has called the plans “barmy” , and Truss, who is expected to warn against “banning things” in the Commons debate.

Truss told that plans to phase out smoking over time were “unconservative”.

She said “we should absolutely protect children from damage and danger while they are developing decision-making capabilities”, but added: “We’re a free country.”