Sixty-eight per cent of the public back the ‘smokefree generation’ policy, as contained in the government’s tobacco and vapes bill, according to new polling from ASH.
The bill, which was first introduced by the previous government and then re-introduced by the current administration, contains measures to phase out the legal sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009. It is currently entering its final stages in Parliament.
The results of the ASH polling show a ‘major shift’ in the attitudes of smokers themselves, says the charity, with more than half backing the policy.
More than 11,000 people were surveyed, with 45 per cent overall agreeing that the government ‘isn’t doing enough’ to tackle smoking, and 65 per cent saying they ‘want to live in a country where no one smokes’. Support spans ‘all age, income and regional groups’, says ASH. ‘Despite the extensive media coverage of the tobacco and vapes bill, and the introduction of legislation that will make the UK the first country to introduce a generational smoking ban, 45 per cent of surveyed adults feel that the government is not doing enough to limit smoking, with 31 per cent saying that what they are doing is about right,’ the document states. ‘Only 10 per cent feel that the government is doing too much.’
Three quarters also wanted to see a ‘big tobacco’ levy, with the money going to smoking cessation and youth prevention services, while 59 per cent supported a smoking ban in the outdoor areas of pubs, cafes and restaurants. ASH is now calling on the government to publish a ‘roadmap to a smokefree country’, setting out how it will deliver ‘rapid reductions’ to smoking rates.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last year showed that 6m UK adults were currently smokers, the lowest proportion of the population since records began.
‘This isn’t about a nanny state, it’s about a public mandate,’ said co-chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health, Bob Blackman MP. ‘People from all walks of life want action. They’re not just asking for a bill, they’re calling for a movement toward a smokefree future and parliament must now match the public’s urgency. Every day we delay, 200 lives are lost and this cannot be ignored.’
Public support for a smokefree society available here