Tobacco and Vapes Bill backed by MPs
MPs have voted in favour of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, bringing a UK smoking ban and stricter vape regulations one step closer to implementation.
The vote took place yesterday evening (26 November), with the bill passing by 415 votes to 47.
While many MPs supported the objectives of the bill, including easing pressures on the NHS, some raised concerns about its practicality and impact on civil liberties.
Speaking to the House of Commons, health secretary Wes Streeting said smoking is ‘the leading cause of sickness, disability and death in our country’, and that the bill would help to create a smoke-free generation.
He also added that the legislation will ‘come down on the vaping industry like a tonne of bricks’.
Outlining the measures included in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Streeting said: ‘Taken together, these measures add up to the most significant public health intervention in a generation, a giant leap in this government’s mission to build a healthy society, and in doing so helping to build a more healthy society too.’
A UK smoking ban was first proposed by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in October 2023. Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, he said there is ‘no safe level of smoking’, unlike other products. He also added that the measure would ‘save more lives than any other decision we take’.
The bill was ditched by Sunak ahead of the general election as it was midway through the legislative process. Shortly after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s election victory, it was confirmed that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill would go ahead under the Labour government.
Streeting acknowledged the former Prime Minister’s bill, telling MPs that the Labour government has taken steps to improve it.
He also paid tribute to Sunak for putting the proposal forward ‘despite opposition from his own party’, stating that it ‘took courage’.
‘Major piece of legislation’
Ahead of yesterday’s vote, chief medical officer for England, professor Chris Whitty, said: ‘If this major piece of legislation is passed, it will accelerate a smoke-free generation and lead to children never being trapped by addiction to cigarettes with lifelong harms to their health.
‘The rising number of children vaping is a significant concern, and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will help prevent marketing vapes to children, which is utterly unacceptable. Smoking results in direct harm across a person’s life course but also causes harms to others around them, including children, pregnant women and the medically vulnerable.
‘Reducing the number of vulnerable people exposed to second-hand smoke, as well as preventing non-smokers taking up vaping is important and will improve the health of the nation.’
Yesterday’s vote brings the bill a step closer to becoming law. Before it is formally improved, it still needs to face a number of further stages, including passing the House of Lords.
Amongst the 35 Conservative MPs who voted against the bill was party leader Kemi Badenoch. She has maintained her opposition after voting against it when it first entered the House of Commons under Sunak.
At the time, Badenoch stated that she opposed the bill because it will mean ‘people born a day apart will have permanently different rights’.
On X, she wrote: ‘Smoking rates are already declining significantly in the UK and I think there is more we can do to stop children taking up the habit. However, I do not support the approach this bill is taking and so will be voting against it.’
What is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill?
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill bans the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, effectively implementing a smoking ban.
The bill also makes it an offence to manufacture or sell any relevant oral tobacco product, such as snus.
As well as tobacco products, the bill includes new powers to regulate the flavours, contents and packaging of vaping products in an attempt to reduce youth vaping. These powers include bans on vape advertising, the sale of vapes in vending machines, and restrictions to flavours, packaging and shop display.
This comes as new data found that nearly one in 10 (9%) secondary school children vape regularly. In addition, researchers recently discovered that berry-flavoured vapes may be more dangerous than those without flavour.
The government has also recently moved to ban disposable vapes in England, Scotland and Wales from June 2025. First announced in January 2024 by the former Conservative government, the ban will make it illegal to sell single-use vapes.
Having now completed the second reading, the bill needs to go through three more stages in the House of Commons before it enters the House of Lords. After this, the bill will reach the final stages, including formal approval by the King.
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