There was a lot of buzz on Tuesday about the vote in the British House of Commons on the bill that came from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak himself. The idea behind the law is relatively simple: from 2027, the minimum age at which tobacco products, such as cigarettes and vapes, can be sold will increase by one year every year. Since that limit is currently still at 18 years, in practice anyone born in or after 2009 will never be able to buy tobacco in the United Kingdom. In this way, over time, a smoke-free generation should emerge across the Channel.
Remarkably, it was mainly members of Sunak’s own Conservative Party who voted against his proposal. Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson called it “absolute madness”, while another ex-prime minister, Liz Truss, feared the “health police” are starting to decide what people eat and drink. And even Sunak’s own Secretary of State for Trade and Business, Kemi Badenoch, voted against. Ultimately, 383 parliamentarians agreed to the proposal, more than the 67 who voted against.
The first round of voting in the House of Commons has cleared an important hurdle to make the proposal law. In the next phase, parliament can further discuss and amend the plan, and the British House of Lords must also consider the matter.
Historical error
If the plan is finally approved, the United Kingdom, where smoking kills 80,000 people every year, will follow in the footsteps of New Zealand. A similar plan based on year of birth had also been approved there, but the new, conservative coalition scrapped it before it could be implemented, because tobacco taxes proved too important for the state treasury.
“The British are sending a clear social signal that the free sale of tobacco is a historical mistake, dating from a time when the harmful effects of smoking were not yet well known.”
Suzanne Gabriels
Tobacco expert Foundation against Cancer
“That was a particularly cynical spectacle,” says Suzanne Gabriels, tobacco expert at the Foundation against Cancer, which would also like to see the British plan implemented in our country. “The idea of such a sales ban with an increasing age limit has been circulating for a few years and internationally it has been favorably received by all tobacco experts. It is therefore very interesting that the United Kingdom is taking steps towards this. They send a clear social signal that the free sale of tobacco is a historical mistake, dating from a time when the harmful effects of smoking were not yet well known.”
Political opposition
In our country, smoking contributes to almost one in three cancer deaths. Yet Wetstraat is not enthusiastic about a sales ban based on the British model. “We specifically inquired with parties. Groen, Les Engagés and Défi fully support it, Vooruit retained some reservations and Ecolo did not really take a position. A lot of other parties – N-VA, CD&V, Open VLD, MR and the PS – were against,” says Gabriels.
The question is also whether such a sales ban is legally watertight. “Europe only prohibits age discrimination in employment relationships, but Belgian law also prohibits it in the sale of goods and services. And opponents will also be able to rely on the constitutional principle of equality,” says constitutional specialist Jogchum Vrielink. “You will therefore have to be able to demonstrate that you serve a legitimate purpose – that seems to me to be the case in this case – but also that the measure is proportionate and necessary. In other words, you could not take less drastic measures. The fact that the border shifts every year seems to me to be the vulnerable point of this proposal. It is very difficult to predict how the judiciary would deal with this.”