The House of Lords has voted against amendments to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill that would have removed the generational tobacco ban from the legislation and replaced it with an age of sale increase to 21.
The amendments were put forward by Lord Murray of Blidworth. He claimed that many independent shopkeepers were scared about the impact that a generational ban would have on their business and the safety of their staff. “There is no getting away from the fact that the weight of responsibility for enforcement of the ban will fall entirely on their shoulders,” he said. “They will have to navigate the new legal-age threshold, which will change every year and be different from the threshold for other age-limited goods—for example, alcohol. One clear potential effect of the proposed ban is that many small local shops will struggle to remain viable in the face of increased competition from the untaxed, unregulated black market. I fear that many neighbourhood shops will close as a result of this policy.”
Peers voted 78 in favour and 246 against the amendments.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) welcomed the vote, describing it as “a historic step towards ending the harm caused by smoking”.
The generational ban will gradually increase the age of sale for cigarettes, making it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
The government has also tabled amendments to give it powers to further restrict cigarette filters, including advertising and packaging. The powers would enable the government to prohibit the manufacture, sale or possession with intent to supply of filters in the UK.
