Over 20 serving ministers may refuse to vote for Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban
MORE than 20 serving ministers may refuse to vote for Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban, The Sun can reveal.
The free vote on outlawing anyone born after 2009 from ever legally buying fags is due within weeks.
And there was confusion tonight over whether the vote on a total ban on disposable vapes would not be whipped.
Downing Street rowed back from public claims the ban on throwaway puffs like Elf Bars and Lost Marys would also be considered a matter of conscience.
No10 tonight insisted that no final decision had been made.
But Mr Sunak defended his clampdown despite it already illegal to sell vapes to anyone under 18.
He cited ease of access to single-use products targeted at kids and vowed to “stamp out” the trade with a full ban.
And No10 insisted there were no current plans to ban over-18s from vaping – after the Department for Health said the vapes “should only be used by adults as a tool to quit smoking.”
After the PM announced today that he is pushing on with his plan to increase the smoking age by one year every year, senior Tories went public with their concerns.
They were led by ex-PM Liz Truss who branded the policy “profoundly unconservative.”
But Mr Sunak hit back: “I don’t think there’s anything unconservative about caring about our children’s health.”
The Sun can reveal more than 20 current serving ministers have “deep suspicion” of the policy and abstain or vote against it when it reaches the Commons.
In total more than 50 Tory MPs are said to be against the policy – but the plan has the support of Labour, meaning it will almost certainly pass into law.
Today the British Vape Trade Association said the ban will drive one million to the black market and push up smoking numbers.
Shares in vaping firms tumbled this morning – with the ban on course to come in by the end of the year.