The legal smoking age in the UK could be raised to 21 as part of a "very radical" review.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid today refused to rule out raising the age to buy cigarettes from 18, telling the BBC: "It’s right that we look at radical ways to reduce smoking rates in this country."
A delayed review by Javed Khan, the former chief executive of Barnardo’s, will reportedly be released on Thursday.
But the government is split over the recommendations of the review, which also suggests new taxes on tobacco firms, according to the Guardian.
It is reported there is scepticism across Government about changes to the legal age limit, as well as further tax rises, with the plan set to go out to consultation after details are released.
The launch will be attended by the chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, the health minister Maggie Throup and the shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne.
One industry source reportedly said the early version of the review had been “very radical” including a tobacco levy, and an option to consider a similar approach to New Zealand by increasing the purchase age by a year, each year, with an aim to totally ban tobacco sales.
Mr Javid today repeatedly refused to rule out raising the smoking age to 21, saying: "One thing I’m very keen on is tackling health disparities that exist in our country.”
He said the review is "almost complete" and he would not pre-empt the findings, but pointed out the Tories had pledged to cut smoking rates below 5% by 2030 and "I'm determined that we do that".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The government is waiting for this review and then we will make decisions. There’s been some speculation around this and that’s all there is at the moment."
A government source said there was clearly an option for ministers not to accept the findings of the review.
A second source said as a “general point of principle, the view has always been that 18 is widely recognised as the age of adulthood”.
There are six million smokers in England and tobacco use increased by 25 per cent among the under-30s during the Covid-19 pandemic, a rise of more than 600,000 smokers in that age bracket. Overall, rates have been falling for the past two decades to less than 15 per cent.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Tackling issues such as smoking is a priority for the office for health improvement and disparities, and a key part of the government’s levelling up agenda. This is why we launched the independent review of our bold ambition to make England smoke-free by 2030.
“The review will provide independent, evidence-based advice on potential interventions that will inform our approach to tackling the stark health disparities associated with tobacco use – and we look forward to seeing the report in due course.”
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