The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has defended his intentions to gradually phase out the sale of cigarettes in England.
Sunak said it would be the “biggest public health intervention in a generation”.
The prime minister told the BBC there was “no safe level of smoking” when asked about restricting people’s right to choose.
Sunak noted that the age at which people can buy cigarettes and tobacco in England should rise by one year every year so that eventually no-one can buy them.
Under the plan, the age of sale would rise from 18 every year so a child aged 14 today would never be allowed to buy tobacco.
However, some critics of the policy say it could lead to the creation of a black market.
Speaking in an interview with Radio 4’s Today programme, Sunak was challenged on why he was taking measures to ban the future sale of cigarettes but in June pushed back part of the government’s anti-obesity strategy, saying he believed in “people’s right to choose”.
The government has postponed plans to ban two-for-one junk food deals for an additional two years, which were originally set to take effect this month.
But the PM told BBC that smoking cigarettes was not the same as eating crisps or a piece of cake because it could not be part of a balanced diet and there was no safe level of smoking.
“Smoking is unequivocally the single biggest preventable cause of death, disability and illness in our society,” he said.
“Everyone recognises this measure will be the single biggest intervention in public health in a generation.”
