King’s Speech reintroduces legislation to raise tobacco age of sale

Today marks the first King’s Speech of this new UK Government. In the speech, plans to reintroduce a Bill to progressively raise the age of sale of tobacco products were announced.

After the snap election brought a disappointing halt to our progress to introduce similar legislation under the last Government, we’re thrilled to have it back on the parliamentary agenda.

As recent Cancer Research UK modelling shows, cancers caused by smoking are at an all-time high of 160 cases per day across the UK.

As one of our five pledges for Longer, better lives, we called on all political parties to commit to help end cancers caused by smoking, including by raising the age of sale of tobacco, with over 21,000 campaigners signing an open letter asking party leaders to back our calls.

Bold action, like this legislation, that prevents people from starting to smoke will help us achieve the ambition set out in this pledge and create a smokefree UK.

The government’s commitment to introduce new legislation on smoking will have a hugely positive impact on the nation's health. Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of death in the UK and is responsible for 160 cancer cases per day. By raising the age of sale for tobacco products, the government will help to prevent cancer, relieve pressures on the NHS and build a healthier future.

This bold announcement positions the UK as world leading in tobacco control. We now hope to see the legislation passed and implemented in full across the UK to help bring an end to cancers caused by smoking for good.

- Ian Walker, executive director of policy at Cancer Research UK

It was also announced that, as planned in the previous version, the Bill would also include powers to stop vapes and other nicotine products from being deliberately targeted towards children.

What are the next steps?

Having this Bill included in the King’s Speech means that it will be brought to Parliament for both MPs and Lords to consider for approval.  

Although the previous Bill had made it through both the first and second readings in the House of Commons, as well as the committee stage, this process must start again with a new Government in place.

However, with cross-party support for the previous Bill and the Labour manifesto explicitly committing to action on tobacco and vaping, we are hopeful that the new age of sale legislation will be successfully implemented.

The Bill will extend UK wide, but the application of the measures will vary across nations, with each devolved government going through their own legislative process.

As legislation to raise the age of sale of tobacco has been a key call of our #SmokefreeUK campaign, we will continue to campaign to ensure that this legislation is passed and implemented in full, across all four nations.

Legislation to tackle childhood obesity

In his speech, King Charles III also announced that his government would put a “focus on prevention” – which reflects the UK Government’s renewed emphasis on the need to switch from treating disease to preventing more diseases in the first place.

As this was also something we advocated for in Longer, better lives, we’re glad to see action to tackle rising obesity rates mentioned as part of the announcement today.

Overweight and obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer and is linked to 13 types of cancer.

The King also announced legislation to restrict advertising of junk food to children along with the sale of high caffeine energy drinks to children.

Restrictions on TV and online advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), were passed into law in 2022, but successive governments have delayed this coming into force.

Official government figures suggested that implementing advertising restrictions on HFSS products could reduce the number of children living with obesity by around 20,000 over the coming years.

This policy would not only support in removing unhelpful nudges that push people towards less healthy food and drink, but it is also popular with the public. 8 out of 10 UK adults support the government banning advertising of unhealthy food on TV and online to children.

We hope that today’s announcement means the UK Government is back on track to ensure the TV and online advertising restrictions on HFSS foods come into force by October 2025, and we will continue to work through the Obesity Health Alliance to help make that happen.