Sunak’s smoking ban plan: A sin tax that’s certain to turn to ashes?

Rishi Sunak wants to gradually outlaw the sale of cigarettes in the UK. Sean O’Grady looks at why the prime minister is throwing his weight behind such a flagrantly un-Conservative policy – and asks if it’s destined to crash and burn

Under the proposal, any child now 14 or under will never be able to legally purchase tobacco (PA)

One of the more eye-catching initiatives to emerge from prime minister Rishi Sunak’s speech to the Conservative Party conference was the proposal to gradually raise the minimum age for purchasing cigarettes and other tobacco products by one year each year (the current threshold is 18 years of age). Thus, any child now 14 or under will never be able to legally purchase tobacco. It’s a policy that was recently introduced in New Zealand. The idea has been given a mostly warm welcome, but some wonder where such an approach might lead.

Why has the prime minister done this?