Youth and Private Sector Reject Generational Smoking Ban in Poll – Guido Fawkes

Youth and Private Sector Reject Generational Smoking Ban in Poll

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Amid the spotlight on Reeves’ Spring Forecast the Tobacco and Vapes Bill also heads into its report stage on Wednesday. It has two amendments with alternative approaches. The DUP’s Sammy Wilson would just raise the age of sale to 21:

“This amendment makes it an offence to sell tobacco products, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers to a person under the age of 21, rather than to people born on or after 1 January 2009.”

Nigel Farage has tabled one to get rid of the ban and leave the age at 18:

‘This amendment removes the generational ban on selling tobacco products to people born on or after 1 January 2009.”

New polling from Yonder Consulting for smokers’ rights group Forest shows it’s the old and government-employed who are backing the ban. It presented the three options (generational ban, 21 sale age, keep status quo) to 2,000 Brits from 17-18 March. 66% of 18-24-year-olds support measures other than the government’s generational ban, broadly split between keeping it the same and raising the age of sale to 21. Their successors will be nannied into the black market…

Previous polling has found the public to be against a raising of the age by two to one. Interestingly there is a split between public sector and private sector workers. The private sector backs keeping the age of sale at 18 by 26% to 21%, and is less keen on the generational ban by one point. Bureaucrats gonna bureaucrat…