The Prime Minister of Britain Rishi Sunak announced that the general elections at the end of the five-year term will be held on Thursday, the 4th of July, 2024, as a result of which the prohibitive anti-smoking bill that he drafted on his own initiative for a complete and gradual ban on smoking, which had not been considered by the House of Lords, will be “shelved” and set aside until the elections and for even more after that.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is not one of the most urgent laws prioritised by the government and parliament for adoption by parliament, and moreover it had not yet passed the House of Lords, a much more lengthy process for which there is no time left until the 4th of July elections. Rishi Sunak also said in view of the previous enactment of the Deportation of Rwanda Act and the Safety of Rwanda Bill that flights carrying refugees to the African country would not take off before the election, as Labour promised to scrap the deportation process if it wins the election, which is the most likely outcome.
“Of course I’m disappointed not to be able to get that through at the end of the session, given the time available. I stepped up to do something that is bold, that will make an enormous difference in the future of our country.” said the prime minister about the gradual smoking ban forming his initiative.
According to the tobacco and vapes bill drafted under Rishi Sunak’s initiative, which was voted by the House of Commons on the 16th of April, adults born after 2009 will not be eligible to purchase tobacco beyond 2027 when those born in that year will mature and emancipate, and that will only be allowed for those born before 2009, a gradual prohibition on the purchase of tobacco for all future generations aiming at its gradual but steady and certain elimination.
The prohibitive anti-smoking bill that would prohibit the supply of tobacco to future adult citizens on the basis of the generation to which they belong born after 2009 was passed by a majority of the House of Commons with 383 votes in favour and 67 against, with 200 abstentions or neutral votes, but the representatives of the people as representatives in parliament are not the only ones appending the legislative process when there is an upper and a lower house, as is the case in Britain with the upper House of Lords. Thus, the draft bill was not enacted into law after its popular acceptance and approval by MPs before it was referred to the House of Lords.
The tobacco and vapes bill which was referenced by the prime minister when announcing the elections is now a campaign promise by Rishi Sunak and his Conservative party, but also a strong cause of the backing Labour party that is more likely to win the election and form the country’s next government, and from which it was heard that it would fall “like a ton of bricks” to inflict it along with the accompanied punishment against its default on the people. Young people born after 2009 will become adults in 2027 when the tobacco and vapes bill would take effect, banning them from purchasing tobacco and allowing the purchase of tobacco only to those who were entitled to do so in advance.
SCRAP THE SMOKING BAN 