AI Summary
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will propose legislation to gradually increase the legal age of buying tobacco products, starting in 2027, preventing young people born in 2009 or later from buying cigarettes.
Public health advocates, the media, and big tobacco were surprised by the announcement from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on Oct 5, 2023, at the Conservative Party’s annual conference, that he would put forward legislation to introduce a staggered increase of the legal age of buying tobacco products, by 1 year each year, starting in 2027. This means that, similar to the law recently introduced in New Zealand, young people born on Jan 1, 2009, or later (currently aged 13 or 14 years) will never be able to legally buy cigarettes or any other tobacco products.