Rishi Sunak has announced plans to ban disposable vapes in a bid to crack down on their use among children.
The prime minister is also set to unveil new powers to restrict vape flavours as a means to make them less appealing to children.
The Scotland and Wales governments will also ban single-use vapes.
The proposed ban, which will form part of legislation that has to be approved by parliament, comes amid concern at the rise of vaping among children, with teachers reporting pupils showing signs of nicotine dependency in the classroom.
The prime minister will also make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 as part of his pledge to create a smoke-free generation, while vaping alternatives such as nicotine pouches will also be outlawed.
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Pupils ‘can’t last a lesson’ without a vape
Announcing the move ahead of a visit to a school on Monday, Mr Sunak said: “As any parent or teacher knows, one of the most worrying trends at the moment is the rise in vaping among children, and so we must act before it becomes endemic.
“The long-term impacts of vaping are unknown and the nicotine within them can be highly addictive, so while vaping can be a useful tool to help smokers quit, marketing vapes to children is not acceptable.
“That is why I am taking bold action to ban disposable vapes – which have driven the rise in youth vaping – and bring forward new powers to restrict vape flavours, introduce plain packaging and change how vapes are displayed in shops.
“Alongside our commitment to stop children who turn 15 this year or younger from ever legally being sold cigarettes, these changes will leave a lasting legacy by protecting our children’s health for the long term.”
Smoking remains the UK’s single biggest preventable killer, causing around one in four cancer deaths and leading to 80,000 deaths per year, while the health effects of vaping remain unknown.
Will the smoking ban be subject to a ‘nanny state’ backlash?
As smoking has been increasingly curtailed in public, it’s easy to forget that it’s still one of the leading causes of death and illness in the UK.
It kills around half of those who smoke, making it the biggest one that’s entirely preventable. The habit kills 76,000 people a year, according to the NHS.
From a public health perspective, Rishi Sunak’s plans are being hailed as a game-changer, and the vaping ban will reassure the message boards full of worried parents of teenagers.
But there’s still something about the ban on cigarettes altogether, that sits uneasily, particularly with politicians on the right.
The new measures follow a government consultation into smoking and vaping which was launched last year, in which nearly 70% of parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and the general public indicated their support for further restrictions.
Enforcement agencies, including Border Force and HMRC, are in line to receive £30m in new funding a year to enforce the measures.
The government will also bring in new fines for shops in England and Wales that sell vapes illegally to children, in addition to the maximum £2,500 fine that local councils can already impose.
Further restrictions on vaping have been touted after recent figures show the number of children using vapes in the past three years has tripled.
Under its plans, the government is expected to use the Environmental Protection Act to ban disposable vapes and hopes to achieve its aim by the end of 2025 at the latest.
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How does vaping affect long-term health?
The move has been welcomed by health and environmental campaigners. It is estimated that five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week – up from 1.3 million last year.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said parents would be “extremely relieved” at the proposals.
“When I asked children a couple of years ago about all aspects of their health and wellbeing, I was shocked and concerned to hear from children as young as 12 who told me that vaping was normalised among their peers – even on school premises,” she said.
“This announcement will help tackle that issue and I know that many children and parents will be extremely relieved.”
And Libby Peake, head of resource policy at the Green Alliance, said: “This ban can’t come soon enough, not only for the health of future generations, but also for the health of the planet.
“This bold move by the government is nothing but good news.”
Around 9% of 11 to 15-year-olds are now using vapes and teachers have expressed concern that children are struggling to concentrate in lessons without them.
Read more:
Children ‘so addicted to vapes they can’t last lesson without one’
How would a smoking ban work?
However, former prime minister Liz Truss said Mr Sunak should “reverse” the ban.
“While the state has a duty to protect children from harm, in a free society, adults must be able to make their own choices about their own lives,” she said.
“Banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or later will create an absurd situation where adults enjoy different rights based on their birthdate.
“A Conservative government should not be seeking to extend the nanny state.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “What has taken the government so long? Labour put forward measures to tackle vapes being aimed at children more than two years ago, but these were blocked by the Conservatives.
“In the meantime, the numbers of young people vaping have soared.”