Smokers’ rights advocates will “fight on” after Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 is granted Royal Assent

The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 has been granted Royal Assent after clearing all stages at both Houses of Parliament and has now become law. A law under which only those born before 2009 are eligible to purchase tobacco from the market, as those born after 2009 are still underaged children and teenagers who will become responsible adults after the law has been passed. This law will not allow them to purchase tobacco for life and has condemned them to die in exactly the same way they were born – that being without the right to purchase tobacco from the market.

Our children and grandchildren will not be allowed to smoke by law under the legislation that Keir Starmer has concluded from Rishi Sunak who first introduced this in the 2024 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, following pressure that he had and the proposal that was made to his government by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). While heated tobacco is included in the progressive tobacco purchase ban, future generations of our children and grandchildren will be allowed to purchase non-tobacco containing nicotine products such as e-cigs and vapourisers, which will continue to be sold to the adult age of majority in the UK.

Simon Clark, chairman of smokers’ rights association FOREST has vowed to fight on after the Act became law and to reverse, abolish and repeal it in the future under a future government. Simon Clark said that ;

The new law is absurd and illiberal. It puts the burden of enforcement on retailers at a time when retail crime is at record levels and getting worse. It won’t stop young people smoking. Instead, as the age of sale increases each year, it will drive more and more people to the black market. The only people who will benefit are criminal gangs and other illicit traders. We will fight on because this is a bad law that undermines individual freedom and will have serious consequences for retailers. We will lobby opposition parties and prospective parliamentary candidates to repeal the generational ban following the next general election. A similar law was repealed in New Zealand so there is no reason why the ban can’t be repealed in the UK.

On the other hand, Hazel Cheeseman whose organisation Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is responsible for inspiring Rishi Sunak to envisage the generational tobacco purchase ban when it was still under Deborah Arnott’s leadership, who retired in October 2024, is satisfied with her organisation’s victory and success and said that ;

This is a truly watershed moment in public health. It is no longer a question of if smoking will end but rather a question of when. Smoking has prematurely taken millions of lives in the UK over the last 50 years. Ridding our society of the pain and suffering it causes is a gift to future generations. This is a moment to be seized, not only to protect the generations to come but to accelerate our support for the millions who are already smoking. Age should be no barrier to being part of a smoke-free future, whether you’re 70 or 17, now is the time.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare Wes Streeting was not directly addressed by Action on Smoking and Health instead of the prime minister Keir Starmer when the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was mentioned in the King’s Speech in the state opening of parliament, to be taken over and picked up from where Rishi Sunak had left off before the election that he lost. Obviously because the King’s Speech was written by the prime minister while Wes Streeting is the health secretary who arranged for the previous bill to be rewritten into the new one that was granted Royal Assent on the last day of April 2026 under this Labour government. Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, Wes Streeting, who orchestrated the progression of the bill being a draft through parliament, said that ;

This legislation marks a turning point for the nation’s health. By ending the cycle of tobacco addiction for future generations, we are taking one of the boldest steps in decades to prevent illness before it even begins. For too long, smoking has claimed lives, widened inequalities and placed avoidable pressure on our health services. This law changes that trajectory – protecting young people from ever starting, while backing current smokers with the support they need to quit for good. A smoke-free generation is now within reach, and this government is determined to deliver a healthier, fairer future for everyone.

Chief medical officer for England Sir Chris Whitty, who maintained his position through the China virus pandemic and was in charge of private restrictions in society whose legitimacy would have been inconceivable and most questionable without smoking restrictions already in place, said that ;

Smoking causes serious harm across the life course and remains a major cause of diseases including lung diseases, heart disease, stroke, bad pregnancy outcomes and premature death. Second-hand smoke is also extremely dangerous, particularly for children, pregnant women and people with medical conditions. Cigarettes take choice away by addicting people and most smokers wish they had never started but are trapped. Marketing vapes at children is utterly unacceptable and this act takes powers to restrict it.

• Read more about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage offering and wanting to abolish the Act and especially delete its provisions constituting an adult tobacco purchase ban.
• Read more on the role and influence of the European Union with the Windsor Framework regulating free trade throughout Ireland between the Republic of Ireland, an EU member, and Northern Ireland.
• Read more on the House of Lords rejecting the “Tobacco 21” amendment which would raise the minimum age limit to buy tobacco to 21 years instead of increasing it by one year every year.
• Sign the petition to counteract the use of binary logic in Parliament when voting for legislation.