Under-18s could be banned from EVER being allowed to smoke in dramatic plan being weighed up by Rishi Sunak
PM RISHI Sunak is considering banning under 18s from ever being allowed to smoke in one of his central announcements at his party conference.
Some MPs have blamed the civil service “blob” for proposing the hardline plan.
But The Sun on Sunday understands from senior government sources the Prime Minister is considering putting it in his speech at the Tory conference in Manchester in just over a week’s time.
Under the proposal, the legal age of smoking would increase year by year.
Eventually, nobody in the UK will be able to buy cigarettes.
It would give Britain the toughest anti-smoking laws in the whole of Europe.
But Tory MPs are privately fuming at the proposal.
One former Cabinet minister raged: “This is the nanny state at its worst.”
Another Tory MP warned last night: “There isn’t a long time until the General Election.
“We’ve had a good week where the PM has struck a chord with millions on net zero.
“He should build on this by hammering the key themes.
“We simply don’t have time for distractions.”