Smoking will be banned in Britain, Charles confirms in King’s Speech

THE United Kingdom intends to ban smoking altogether, King Charles said at the state opening of British Parliament on Tuesday.

During what’s known as the King’s Speech, the ceremonial beginning of the legislative year, the monarch confirmed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will mount a historic crackdown on cigarettes.

The planned legislation will raise the legal age of buying cigarettes every year until there are no smokers left.

“We must tackle the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill health disability and death,” the PM has previously said.

“And that is smoking, and our country. Smoking causes, one in four cancer deaths.”

The new plans mean a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette.

The ban will be subject to a “free vote,” meaning Members of Parliament will not be told how to vote by party enforcers.

But the Labour Party has confirmed its intention to vote with the Conservative government, so the new law is expected to fly through.

The plan was originally rejected by ministers when suggested previously.

But Sunak has now said: “People take up cigarettes when they are young. Four in five smokers have started by the time they are 20. Later, the vast majority try to quit.

“But many fail because they are addicted and they wish had never taken up the habit in the first place.

“If we could break that cycle if we could stop the start then we would be on our way to ending the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in our country.”

The government is committed to making England smoke-free by 2030, meaning fewer than 5% of the public using cigarettes.