Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Smoke-free UK

15 October 2026 · 8 other contributors · 11,928 words

Opened by Bob Blackman Con Harrow East

Responding minister: Diana R. Johnson

Crime & Law EnforcementEconomyNorthern IrelandParliamentary ProcedureMental HealthNHS

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Bob Blackman raised concerns about smoke-free uk in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Bob Blackman is concerned about the persistence of smoking as a leading cause of premature death and disability, responsible for 80,000 deaths annually and 160 cancer cases daily.
  • Mary Foy highlighted the record low smoking rates during pregnancy at 4.2%, while also noting stark inequalities in smoking rates across different educational levels.
  • Clive Jones raised concerns over the high mortality rate from lung cancer, which is often caused by smoking, and the risk of England missing its smoke-free target by at least seven years.

Key requests to Government

Blackman asks the Government to set a new target for reducing smoking to below 1% in all communities across the UK, to introduce a levy on tobacco manufacturers to raise £5 billion over five years, and to maintain and protect funding for cessation support within the public health grant. He also wants to know what progress has been made on Labour's manifesto pledge for opt-out cessation support in all in-patient settings and whether the funding going to the NHS is sufficient to deliver on this pledge. Mary Foy asked the Minister for progress on the manifesto commitment on opt-out support in routine care and for a new target to see smoking rates below 1% in all groups across society by a specific date. She also suggested introducing a levy on industry profits to fund programmes to support smokers. Clive Jones asks the Minister to provide an update on progress towards offering opt-out smoking cessation support as part of routine hospital care and to confirm that local authority funding for smoking cessation services will be protected throughout this Parliament.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Bob Blackman Con Harrow East

Bob Blackman is concerned that although smoking prevalence in the UK has dropped to less than 10%, smoking remains one of the leading causes of premature death and disability, responsible for around 80,000 deaths annually and approximately 160 cancer cases daily. Smoking also impacts employment, with around 700,000 working-age adults out of work due to smoking-related illness, and imposes significant costs on the NHS and the economy, estimated at £44.8 billion a year in England alone. He notes an increase in young people taking up smoking and vaping, with 16% of pupils vaping during class and 39% of teachers observing pupils distracted by nicotine. He is also concerned that the current target of 5% smoking prevalence by 2030 may not be met, and that there is a risk of cessation funds being reduced. Mary Foy highlighted the significant progress in reducing smoking rates in the UK, noting that smoking rates have fallen to below 10% for the first time ever. She pointed out that smoking rates in pregnancy are at a record low of 4.2%. However, she expressed concern about the stark inequality in smoking rates, with people with no qualifications expected to reach smoking rates of less than 1% only 29 years after those with a degree. She also mentioned the link between smoking and poverty, noting that smoking pushes 417,000 households below the poverty line. Clive Jones is concerned about the high mortality rate associated with lung cancer, which is often caused by smoking. He notes that lung cancer accounts for about 35,000 deaths annually, representing one in five cancer fatalities. Jones also highlights the impact of smoking on his family, with his father dying at the age of 63 due to a lifelong smoking habit. He raises concerns about the enforcement of the Tobacco and Vapes Act, noting that without further action, England could miss its smoke-free target by at least seven years, with some of the poorest areas not becoming smoke-free until 2044. He also mentions that more than 106,000 cancer patients waited longer than 62 days to begin treatment in 2025, which has serious consequences for survival rates.

Other contributors (8)
  • Danny Beales Con Hillingdon

    Danny Beales shared his personal experience growing up in a smoking household and emphasised the importance of continuing the campaign for a smoke-free generation. He highlighted the effectiveness of public health measures and presented ONS data showing a historic milestone of fewer than 10% of people smoking in the UK. Beales also discussed the social justice aspect of the campaign, noting that smoking pushes nearly half a million households into poverty, including 137,000 children. He advocated for targeted outreach to support those in the last 10% of smokers who face complex challenges such as deprivation and mental health issues.

  • Dan Poulter Con Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

    Dr Poulter agrees that the progress on smoking cessation must be maintained and accelerated. He supports the ambition of a smoke-free UK by 2030 and urges the Government to ensure that the necessary funding and resources are in place to support this goal.

  • Euan Stainbank Lab Dunbartonshire East

    Euan Stainbank welcomed the debate and commended the hon. Members for Harrow East and City of Durham for securing it. He highlighted the importance of providing effective off-ramps for those addicted to nicotine and expressed concern over the potential regulation of vaping products. He cited statistics showing that the majority of vape use is among ex-smokers and current smokers, and argued that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking. He warned against the arbitrary equivalence of regulation between tobacco and vapes, stressing the importance of flavours in vaping products as a smoking cessation tool. He also mentioned the need for age-gating technology to prevent youth vaping while retaining the benefits for smoking cessation. He called for a full list of specialist retailers to ensure support for smoking cessation efforts.

  • Gregory Stafford Con Guildford

    Smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of cancer. The ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030 was set under a Conservative Government. The Office for National Statistics reports that 9.8% of adults smoked in 2025, down from 10.6% the year before. Gregory raises concerns about missed targets, support to quit, enforcement and proportionality, vaping, and lung health. He calls for a new target and plan, funding for hospital stop smoking services, resources for trading standards, and reconsideration of a framework for respiratory disease.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Jim Shannon expressed concern over the smoking habits of people aged 45 to 54, noting that 12.4% of this age group are current smokers in the UK. He highlighted the need for accessible addiction treatment and practical support for those struggling to quit smoking. Shannon also inquired about the timescale for the release of consultation responses and the subsequent action to be taken. He emphasized the need to address the issue of young people vaping and called for stricter controls on flavouring and advertising to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to children.

  • Mary Glindon Lab North Tyneside

    Mary Glindon emphasised the importance of enforcing the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 to achieve a smoke-free UK. She highlighted the threat posed by the illicit market, which undermines efforts to protect children and responsible retailers. Glindon called for a comprehensive retail and distributor licensing scheme to identify and penalise rogue retailers who sell to children or supply illicit and non-compliant products. She warned that the new vaping products duty could increase vape prices by 44%, potentially pushing 946,000 vapers back to smoking and resulting in additional healthcare and productivity costs. Mary Glindon discusses the importance of vaping as a route out of smoking for adults, while also acknowledging concerns about its impact on children. She calls for a balanced approach that protects children while supporting adults in quitting smoking.

  • Rachael Maskell Lab Hull North

    Rachael Maskell raises the issue of health inequalities, highlighting that people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to smoke. She calls for targeted interventions to address these disparities and ensure that all communities benefit from the smoke-free initiatives.

  • Ruth Jones Lab Swansea East

    Ruth Jones, a physiotherapist for over 30 years, highlighted the detrimental effects of smoking on public health, noting that smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, with 80,000 deaths annually. She emphasised the significant impact of smoking on the NHS, with over 17,000 hospital admissions and £650 million in costs for Wales alone. Jones also pointed to the disproportionate impact of smoking on deprived communities, with almost a quarter of adults in the most deprived areas smoking, four times higher than the least deprived areas. She expressed concern over the growing number of people, especially children, who vape without having been smokers, with over a million people across England, Scotland, and Wales in that category. Jones called for the strengthening of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 to address these issues and asked the Minister to outline steps being taken to level up retail standards for vape shops and to ensure that the UK Border Force and local trading standards teams are effectively resourced to perform spot-checks.

Government Response

Diana R. Johnson

It is a pleasure to serve under you this afternoon, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham (Mary Kelly Foy) on securing this important debate, and on their steadfast advocacy in support of creating a smoke-free generation. I am grateful to all hon. Members who have contributed today. I note that the two hon. Members who secured this debate co-chair the APPG on smoking and health and are obviously a formidable duo. I am not surprised that they were able to secure this debate, which I understand was granted by the Chair and members of the Backbench Business Committee. They obviously made a very powerful case. Hon. Members raised a number of questions this afternoon, which I will try to address in my remarks, but I would also be very pleased to attend a session of the APPG to discuss the issues further. It is really important that we carry on with the cross-party nature of this debate and the work that has gone on by previous Governments. I pay tribute to the work of the previous Government and previous Prime Minister in this particular area, ably assisted by the hon. Member for Harrow East. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) told us about the rather drastic action his grandfather took to ensure that he remained smoke-free throughout his life. My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend (Mary Glindon) spoke about the role of vapes in helping people quit smoking. Importantly, she also talked about the illicit products and traders, and the fact that organised crime is funded by those products. My hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) talked about her professional experience as a physiotherapist and the challenges that are faced particularly in Wales. My hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) talked about growing up in a family of smokers; he is very anti-smoking. He set out really clearly the health benefits of giving up smoking and how quickly those benefits can materialise. My hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank) talked about vapes. He chairs the APPG for responsible vaping and also made the case for vapes in helping people cease smoking. Again, I would be very happy to attend and talk to the APPG if that would be helpful. The hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones), who speaks for the Liberal Democrats, made a very personal statement at the beginning of his speech about the role that smoking had played in his family, with his dad dying at a relatively young age. The Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford), set out the work of previous Governments and asked a series of questions, which I will try to address. I think we are all agree that tobacco is a uniquely harmful product and smoking is the single most entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability and death in the UK. It is responsible for around 75,000 deaths each year. Smoking reduces life expectancy by an average of 10 years, and almost every minute of every day somebody is admitted to hospital because of smoking-related harm. Smoking contributes to a range of serious long-term conditions, including stroke, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, asthma and complications during pregnancy. The cost of smoking is not just measured in lives lost and poor health. There are significant economic costs. Smoking is estimated to cost the NHS and social care system £3 billion annually, resources that could otherwise be used to fund millions more appointments, scans and operations. In terms of health disparities, smoking remains one of the greatest drivers of health inequalities in this country, with the burden falling disproportionately on our most disadvantaged communities. The disparities are stark. For example, the number of women who smoke at the time of delivery varies drastically according to deprivation—from 12% in Havering, 8% in Kingston upon Hull, where my constituency is, compared with less than 1% in Richmond upon Thames. Those are not merely statistics; they represent real families, communities and children whose health and life chances are being diminished by tobacco addiction. Turning to the smoke-free generation, it is a real privilege to have responsibility for implementing the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Act. As many Members will be aware, the Act will create a smoke-free generation by ending the sale of tobacco products to future generations across the UK. In practical terms, that means than anyone who has turned, or is turning, 17 this year will never legally be sold tobacco. Over the next 50 years, that will save tens of thousands of lives and could boost the economy by up to £48 billion pounds. Since Royal Assent, the Department has made significant progress towards the implementation of the Tobacco and Vapes Act. We have laid enabling legislation in Parliament, engaged extensively with stakeholders across public health and the retail sector, and published detailed guidance. We are also in the process of developing a nationwide awareness campaign to inform the public. We are expecting that to be rolled out in November with a particular focus on areas with high smoking rates. The hon. Member for Harrow East asked about what progress has been made on the manifesto pledge for opt-out smoking cessation interventions in all routine care. I want to address that, but first I will say that protecting future generations through our smoke-free generation must go hand in hand with helping current smokers to quit. Through the public health grant, we have ringfenced a record investment of £153 million each year for local stop-smoking services specifically, with funding targeted towards those areas with the highest smoking rates. As I said, the hon. Member for Harrow East and my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham raised the question about services and opt-out. Those services are currently available in 99% of maternity services and 92% of inpatient services. On top of that, ICBs have access to funding for tobacco dependence treatment services in those particular settings. Many comments were made about youth vaping, and we know that vapes can play an effective role in helping adult smokers to quit, as my hon. Friends the Members for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend and for Falkirk stated. However, young people, and adults who do not smoke, should never vape. That is because we know that they are not harm-free and the longer-term harms are still unknown. We are taking firm action to protect future generations from the risk of nicotine addiction. That is important given that a million 11 to 17-year-olds have tried vaping this year. We have also banned single-use vapes, and a vaping product duty is now in force. From 29 October, we are introducing a ban on vape vending machines, banning free distribution and extending the age of sale to 18 for all nicotine and vaping products, including nicotine-free vapes. The Tobacco and Vapes Act also introduces a comprehensive ban on the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products. We intend to bring that into force across the UK from 1 June 2027. My hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk asked how we will ensure that striving for a smoke-free generation does not mean banning key smoking cessation tools such as vapes. The measures consulted on have been carefully assessed to ensure the right balance between protecting children and ensuring that adult smokers can still access vapes to quit smoking. In terms of upcoming policy changes, in May we concluded our consultation on extending smoke-free places to certain outdoor settings and introducing vape-free places. Our consultation on proposals to reduce the appeal of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products closed on 2 October. We are now carefully considering the responses as we develop effective and proportionate policies that continue to protect public health. Turning to enforcement, to ensure that measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Act are effective, we are providing up to £30 million a year for enforcement agencies until 2028-29. That will support legitimate businesses and enable stronger enforcement against those who break the law. The Tobacco and Vapes Act also provides new powers for enforcers. New fixed penalty notices come into force on 29 October, supporting trading standards to crack down on retailers who break the rules. The Act also provides powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and to expand the retailer registration scheme in Scotland. To answer the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, we intend to consult on those issues next year. Several hon. Members asked what comes next after the implementation of the smoke-free generation measures on 1 January and for a longer-term road map for tobacco control and the introduction of a "polluter pays" levy. We share the ambition to drive down smoking rates. Indeed, new figures published just last week show that smoking prevalence across the UK has fallen to 9.8%, which is the first time it has fallen below 10%. That is a significant milestone that demonstrates the progress we are making. We must not mistake progress for completion, however. Around 4.9 million adults across the UK still smoke, and we remain determined to go further. Our immediate priority is delivering the Tobacco and Vapes Act successfully and ensuring that these landmark reforms achieve their full potential. The Act represents the most significant advance in tobacco control in a generation, and getting implementation right will deliver benefits for decades to come. I am very happy to look at all the issues and suggestions that have been made by hon. Members; perhaps we can discuss them at the APPG. In supporting smokers to quit, protecting children from nicotine addiction, strengthening enforcement and creating a smoke-free generation, the Tobacco and Vapes Act represents one of the most significant public health reforms of our time. Future generations will look back on this moment as a defining milestone in public health. It is legislation that will save lives, reduce inequalities, improve health outcomes and create a healthier, fairer future for communities across the United Kingdom.

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