Rishi Sunak abandoned his “legacy” policy to ban smoking for future generations amid a backlash from the tobacco industry in the form of legal threats, lobbying and a charm offensive aimed at Conservative MPs, an investigation reveals., a non-profit newsroom that investigates global health threats, has uncovered how the UK’s largest cigarette companies fought against the policy, which would have raised the smoking age by one year every year.
BAT, JTI and PMI were named as interested parties in Imperial’s letter, giving them the right to join as co-claimants if a judicial review went ahead. However, the company’s UK subsidiary told the consultation it “did not support the age of sale ban as outlined”, arguing instead for “further restrictions” on “combustible tobacco” – ie cigarettes – instead of an outright ban.
In May, he proposed an amendment that would have replaced Sunak’s proposals with a new minimum age of 21.