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A YouGov poll for ASH published today (28 February) found that 71% of adults support the goal of making Britain a country where no-one smokes (12% are opposed).
Support is strongest among those who intend to vote for the three main parties in the general election (72% of those intending to vote Conservative, 76% Labour and 76% Lib Dem).
Bob Blackman CBE MP (Conservative), chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health, said: “Backbenchers have always led the way on tobacco legislation, from banning advertising, to making public places smokefree and putting tobacco in standard packs.
“However, this time there is a clock ticking and we need the government to expedite the passage of the Bill to ensure that it passes into law before the general election.
“He will have the strong support of backbenchers from right across both Houses of Parliament.”
Mary Kelly Foy MP (Labour) vice chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health said: “There is a strong consensus right across Parliament that we must end smoking and save lives.
“That is why Labour will put country before party, lending its votes to the government to get this legislation passed before the next election.
“There is no more time to waste. It is for the government to set the timetable to ensure this is achieved, and it will have Labour’s support in doing so.”
Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat) vice chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health said: “Opponents of this legislation argue that it is not for government to intervene in people’s so-called ‘lifestyle choices’.
“But smoking is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ it is an addiction and one that is hard to escape. Two-thirds of those people trying just one cigarette, usually as children, go on to become daily smokers, and daily smokers are addicted smokers.
“That is why this legislation has strong public as well as parliamentary support.”
Also today health leaders are briefing parliamentarians on the case for ending cigarette sales to those born on or after 1 January 2009.
Their brief, endorsed by over 30 health organisations including medical royal colleges, charities, and public health organisations, rebuts claims that the legislation is unenforceable.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “Smoking is the silent killer that hides in plain sight.
“Ending this scourge on society is long overdue. The pro-smoking lobby protests that raising the age of sale one year every year is unenforceable, exactly what they said about the smoking ban nearly two decades ago.
”They were wrong then and they’re wrong now. The public aren’t fooled, they support raising the age of sale, just as they did the smoking ban, because they know it’s needed, wanted and workable.“
