Tackling smoking isn’t an affront to personal freedom – it's a defence against deadly addiction

The UK is moving towards an entirely new future – one that will phase out the use of tobacco and consign smoking to the history books.

With the Tobacco and Vapes Bill set to become law, anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never legally be sold tobacco in their lifetime in the UK. We’re firmly on the path to stubbing out the country’s leading cause of cancer and leaving a legacy for future generations we can be proud of.

As this Bill made its way through Parliament, we heard familiar arguments directly echoing lines from the tobacco industry’s well-worn playbook. Perhaps the most frustrating was the claim that smoking is simply a matter of free choice. In reality, around 8 in 10 smokers have tried to quit. This is a statistic that speaks not to choice, but to how hard it is to escape addiction.

This legislation isn’t about removing liberties, it’s about protecting the next generation from being drawn in by a uniquely toxic consumer product that strips people of real choice after the first cigarette is lit.

This dependency fuels the tobacco industry. Its business model has relied on misleading and manipulative marketing that hooks people in at an early age. Add to this their sinister tactics to disrupt and delay action to tackle smoking. That’s why this legislation isn’t about removing liberties, it’s about protecting the next generation from being drawn in by a uniquely toxic consumer product that strips people of real choice after the first cigarette is lit.

The numbers are devastating – in the past decade, more than 800,000 people in the UK have lost their lives to tobacco, shattering countless families, and impacting people every day.

For me, this is deeply personal – I grew up in a family devastated by tobacco. My grandfather first started smoking as a child, long before we understood the full dangers. His addiction followed him through life, leading to his cancer diagnosis, gruelling rounds of radiotherapy and invasive facial surgery. Tobacco slowly stole his health, and it stole him from us.

I now have two sons, and like many other parents, I want them to grow up in a world where they aren’t exposed to tobacco – a product that kills around two in three of its long-term users. At its core, this legislation is about protecting millions of children like them.

The scale of what this could achieve is enormous. Millions of children growing up in the UK will never be legally sold cigarettes in this country. That’s a generation of young lives shielded from the grip of a deadly, costly addiction – and many more to follow.

At a time when society can feel deeply polarised, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill secured resounding public support and backing in Parliament.

The impact of this will ripple beyond the individual – it’ll also ease the enormous and avoidable strain smoking places on our health system. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) estimates that treating smoking-related illness costs the NHS approximately £1.8 billion every year in England. By reducing smoking rates over time, this legislation will help create a future with fewer cancers, fewer heart attacks and strokes, and less pressure on a health system that is already under immense strain.

As we act to protect future generations, there are still around 5.3 million people in the UK who smoke. Many of these people want to quit but face real barriers – from lack of local support to the pressures of day-to-day life. And the sad reality is that more deprived communities shoulder the greatest burden of tobacco related illness. This legislation is a powerful opportunity to narrow inequalities over time, but only if it is paired with support for people who still smoke and want to quit. Nobody should be left behind in the fight against tobacco.

At a time when society can feel deeply polarised, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill secured resounding public support and backing in Parliament. As the first nation of our size to phase out the legal sale of tobacco, we can be proud of this historic step. It shows what can be achieved when politics puts people’s health first.

And crucially, it shows what is possible when governments follow the evidence and stand firm against the tobacco industry. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill builds on our proud legacy of tobacco control – from preventing smoking indoors in public places to introducing plain packaging and graphic warnings on cigarette packs, and stopping the marketing of tobacco products.

It is progress that has been powered by researchers whose work exposed the harms of tobacco, charities and health partners who campaigned tirelessly, parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, and the many people who shared their experiences to push for change.

This defining step reinforces the UK Government’s commitment to shift from treating illness to preventing it, but its success depends on full implementation across the UK, strong enforcement of age of sale laws, action on illicit tobacco and clear communication with the public. With continued commitment, a future free from the lethal harms of smoking is now within reach.