UK set to ban tobacco sales for a ‘smoke-free’ generation. Will it work?

Antismoking bill aims to phase out sales of tobacco, which is one of the main causes of cancer deaths in Britain.

Britain is set to impose tough measures to stub out smoking which has emerged as one of the biggest causes of cancer deaths in the country.

Parliament approved the government’s “historic” plans to create a “smoke-free” generation on Tuesday in a bid to reduce the number of people dying from smoking-related diseases, a big burden on the country’s publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS).

MPs voted 383-67 to give the Tobacco and Vapes Bill a second reading, overcoming vocal opposition from a section of the ruling Conservative Party, which opposes state interference in people’s lives. It now needs approval from the House of Lords to come into effect. No party in the 790-member Lords has an overall majority, but the Conservatives outweigh Labour 278-173.

“Parliament has now begun the process of consigning smoking to the ash heap of history,” Deborah Arnott, chief executive of pressure group Action on Smoking and Health, told Al Jazeera.

“The passage of the bill should be expedited to ensure it is on the statute book before the general election. The public, who overwhelmingly support the legislation, expect nothing less,” she said.