Ministers have refused to raise the minimum age for the sale of cigarettes from 18 despite expert recommendations and strong public support.
Health minister Neil O'Brien said it would be "too big a departure" from the current policy, which focuses on "helping people to quit" rather than imposing bans.
A government-commissined review last year, led by Dr Javed Khan, backed "increasing the age of sale from 18, by one year, every year until no-one can buy a tobacco product in this country".
MPs in the all-party parliamentary group on smoking and health have also previously recommended hiking the age of sale to 21.
Labour has said the sale of cigarettes could be phased out and that it will consult on a raft of measures, including a New Zealand-style gradual ban on tobacco.
New Zealand is planning to impose a steadily rising smoking age to prevent tobacco being sold to anyone born on or after January 1 2009.
Mr O'Brien set out a package of measures aimed at driving smoking rates down below 5% by 2030 during a Q&A event at conservative think-tank Policy Exchange today.
The new proposals include a “swap to stop” programme that will encourage smokers to switch their fags for free vapes.
Pregnant women will also be offered up to £400 to quit.
Audience member Shaun Walsh, head of public affairs at Cancer Research UK, highlighted polling that suggests strong public support for raising the minimum age for the sale of cigarettes.
But Mr O’Brien replied: "We think that's too big a departure from the policy we've been involved in for many decades which is of helping people to quit rather than banning adults from buying cigarettes.
"So that's not something we're going to pursue - instead we want to major on measures to help people quit smoking rather than do that."
Alice Wiseman, Board Member and Policy Lead for Addiction at the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: "Nine months ago, the Khan Review set out a clear pathway for the Government to follow which had widespread support from the public health community.
"While some measures are now being implemented, too many - such as the recommended raise to the age of sale - have been overlooked and with less than seven years to go, we are in serious danger of missing the 2030 target."
Chief executive of Cancer Research UK, Michelle Mitchell, also urged ministers to raise the age of sale on tobacco.
She said: “Since the Khan review was published in June 2022, at least 40,000 people's lives have been changed forever with a cancer diagnosis caused by smoking in the UK.
“To help reduce these numbers the Government should follow the evidence by raising the age of sale on tobacco and committing more funds to help people quit.
“Bold action is required to protect future generations from the suffering caused by smoking addiction – and we urge the Government to act further.”
Mr O’Brien was also criticised in the Q&A for the funding being “nowhere near” what is needed to help people quit smoking.
Deborah Arnott, chief of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said the Government’s plans to meet its ambition of being smoke-free by 2030 “don’t go quite far enough”.
Professor Nick Hopkinson, Chair of ASH and a member of the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Committee, grilled Mr O’Brien on the Government’s not having introduced a “polluter pays” levy on tobacco industry profits to help raise the funding needed.
He said: “The chief medical officer has described the tobacco industry business model as killing people for profit.
“So my question straightforwardly is why is the government allowing the industry to keep this money while at the same time bringing forward piecemeal and inadequate proposals to deal with smoking and deliver smoke free 2030?”
A floundering Mr O’Brien was unable to answer the question, only saying: “Everything to do with taxes and revenues is to do with the Treasury. It’s for them to make these decisions.”
He added that the schemes he’d announced, including helping people quit in pregnancy, were through “additional funding”.
But he acknowledged there needed to be more done as smoking was a “huge contributor” to major health conditions.
“We will absolutely be thinking about what the health service can do and what more we can do.
“I think these are important steps towards our goals 2030 today, but it's of course, never the end of the story,” he said.
The Department of Health said £68million of funding was spent on stop smoking services in 2021-22, while £35million has been committed to the NHS this year.
Specialised “illicit vapes enforcement squad” to tackle underage sales of vapes will also be introduced through £3million of new funding.
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