Backbench campaign to raise smoking age
A group of backbench MPs is pressing the Government to raise the age at which young people can buy cigarettes.
Labour’s Jeff Ennis has tabled a parliamentary motion calling for the minimum aged to be raised from 16 to 18. The campaign has so far been backed by 47 MPs.
Mr Ennis, MP for Barnsley East and Mexborough, said he decided to raise the issue after learning in the last Parliament that ministers were not planning to raise the age at which people can legally buy tobacco.
“I thought it was something that we definitely ought to be considering doing. I think it’s an issue that is of public concern,” he said.
Mr Ennis also suggested it would “make sense” for the law on purchasing cigarettes to be brought into line with the age restriction on buying alcohol.
“We are taking all these measures to crack down on smoking in public places, yet we still allow 16-year-olds to buy cigarettes. It’s a nonsense,” he added.
“We are stopping 16-year-olds from buying knives and we should be doing our best to stop them from buying cigarettes.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health insisted the Government were making progress on persuading young people to stop smoking.
“There has been a decrease in smoking prevalence among 11 to 15-year-olds from 13 per cent in 1998 to a current rate of 9 per cent,” said the spokesman.
“Although more needs to be done, the success reflects the action taken by the Government in its comprehensive tobacco control strategy including measures to ban tobacco advertising and hard-hitting campaigns to halt the dangers of smoking.”
